Second Chances
by Fist-it-Out
Summary: Zed moves to Seabrook to raise his daughter the way he had always meant to—in a quiet little town, away from the hustle and bustle of New York. He never thought he'd find love again, especially right across the street. Addison didn't know she was missing anything until she found them: the love of her life and a chance for a new family. (teacher!au)


**A/N: One quick little thing! Zeke Blakeley is a BGZ created by the amazing unusual-ly from the tumblr! As is Paizley! All the hockey players are also BGZ! Now enjoy the show!**

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—_Addison_—

Bad days in first grade were never just bad, they were miserable. Today, for example. Bobby Moore stuck a piece of gum in her hair and Rebecca Duncan-Johnson wouldn't stop throwing wads of paper at kids in other tables and Marcus Griffin kept pulling on the new student's pigtails until she started crying and Abraham Harrison wouldn't stop hitting his classmates at recess and Addison had to write a note home for almost her entire class.

Addison had gone to the bathroom with her room mom, Bree Izaki, while her class was at gym. They used peanut butter from Matthew Izaki's lunch box to get the gum out, which they then had to wash out with hand soap and water. And finally, Addison sat under the hand dryer to get her hair to dry as much as possible before she had to go back to her class of first graders.

The only thing she wants to do is get in a warm bath and nap in peace. But she hasn't cleaned her bathroom in a week, running a bath takes energy she doesn't have, and she had to correct homework and classwork which can't be done in the bathtub.

'_I need a nice hot meal_,' she thought as she drove home. "Hey Siri," she waited for the beeping before saying, "text Bucky."

"_What would you like to say to 'Bucky'_?"

"Can we have something for dinner that's hot and fresh please. Too tired to cook so it's on you."

"_Ready to send your message to 'Bucky'_?"

"Send."

Her phone made the sending sound and Addison turned her attention back to the road.

Here's the thing: it was _never_ her choice to live with her cousin.

He was older than her and had this house when she graduated college and moved back in with her parents, who lived a little outside Seabrook. And her parents weren't _thrilled_ about her coming back home. There was a fight, words were said that couldn't be taken back, and Addison found herself crashing on Bucky's couch, which turned into living in his spare bedroom.

Bucky was her roommate and her cousin who was a mediocre chef. But he did give her enough comfort foods and cuddles and movies and help that she was fine with the okay food. Bucky was great when he wanted to be, which was luckily when Addison needed him to be.

She pulled into her driveway a few minutes later, shutting off the engine and hopping out of her car. She grabbed her bag from the passenger seat, laid it on the roof, then grabbed the rest of her belongings. After she straightened up and took a customary look around her area, her eyes landed on the neighbor across the street and she froze in her spot.

A month ago, her elderly neighbors across the street moved out to go live with their daughter in Milwaukee. Two days ago, another family moved in. Addison had seen the moving trucks that first morning but didn't stick around to greet her new neighbors (she was late for work, after all).

So yes, this is the first time Addison has seen her neighbor. The only logical explanation is that she's fainted and she's dreamed up a perfect god, leaned over the hood of his car, _shirtless_, the sun beating down on his toned back while he spreads the suds across the hood.

Addison actually pinches herself. There was no way that this man—the _finest_ man she's ever laid eyes on—would ever willingly move to the tiny town of Seabrook. Except she doesn't wake up and he's still there, washing his car in nothing but board shorts.

'_Calm down Addison. It's just a guy._'

Hot Neighbor Guy turned and spotted her and _fuck_ she's so screwed. He's smiling at her and her heart stutters in her chest. Hot Neighbor Guy drops his rag in a bucket and starts making his way toward Addison and she feels herself start to panic.

She doesn't have to look in the mirror to know she looks like a mess: she's tired and her button down is wrinkled and all over the place, half tucked in, some buttons already undone, and her hair is a frizzy nest that smells like peanut butter and cheap soap. And now she's about to face Hot Neighbor Guy and she's already blown it.

'_Get it together girl! He's just a guy_,' her brain tells her, but she immediately fires back, '_That's like saying the Atlantic Ocean is _just _a pool_.'

"Hey," he says in greeting, his voice a deep rumble in his chest. Up close, she can see just how hot he truly is: his nose is long and his jawline is perfect and his skin looks so soft; further down, he's got definition to his torso and his arms as if he works out just about everyday.

Hot Neighbor Guy held out his hand for Addison, pulling her out of her ogling dream. "I'm Zed, your new neighbor."

Addison stares at his face for a full minute, before gaining her composure and shaking his hand. "Addison," she breathes. "I-Uh, hi."

He laughs with a raised eyebrow. "Hey. How are you? I've been meaning to introduce myself but no one ever seems to be home."

"I-I work. I'm a teacher." Addison shrugs. "Leave early. Come home late."

"Except today, I see," Zed notes.

Addison laughs nervously. "It was a rough day. One of my students thought it'd be a good idea to put gum in my hair."

Zed whistled lowly. "Ouch. I'm sorry."

"My class was filled with monsters today," Addison says with a nod. "They're usually so sweet and angels. I mean, kids aren't perfect, but they aren't ever this horrible."

Zed lets out a soft chuckle and Addison smiles at him. "So how did you manage to get the gum out?"

"Room mom took peanut butter out of her son's lunchbox," Addison explains. "And then, because there was peanut butter all in my hair, we used hand soap to wash my hair in the elementary school bathroom."

Zed drops his head back, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. Addison grins a little proudly as he laughs. He looks at her with a mischievous smile and says, "Funny and gorgeous, damn."

And she's not expecting the absolute bluntness from him. Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush and _fuck_ Hot Neighbor Guy whose name is Zed, standing before her, shirtless and skin sheening with water or sweat or whatever, thinks she's gorgeous.

There's no way she isn't dreaming. Everything is all too perfect and rom-com for this to _not_ be a dream.

"I-um-Thank you," Addison says, completely flustered. "You look…you're so hot. _Fuck_."

Zed laughs and Addison feels her eyes fall to the ground. There's no way she just said that to his face, and yet she did and he was laughing.

"No need to get embarrassed, Addison," Zed says. "I'm not wearing a shirt. I did this to seduce you, of course."

Addison raises an amused eyebrow. "Seduce me? You didn't even know I lived here!"

Zed chuckles. "I just had a hunch there was a beautiful woman across the street, with frizzy, peanut butter hair." Zed shrugs and Addison laughs a little. "I'm curious if you'd wanna grab dinner tonight? Maybe talk some more?"

"_Yes_!" Addison covers her mouth because that answer was _way_ too quick and Zed laughs. Addison nods, obviously excited. She pulls her hand from her mouth and says a lot slower, "That would be nice."

"Okay," Zed says with a smile. "Is seven thirty good?"

Addison nodded. "Yes it's perfect. I-I have to go grade some papers and actually wash my hair but yes that's perfect!"

Zed lets out a relieved breath. "I was a little worried you'd say no."

"No, never," Addison says. "I gotta-I should—"

"Yeah, of course," Zed says. "I gotta finish…" he trails off, his brows furrowing as he thought back on what he was doing before, "washing the car."

Addison smiles giddily. "Okay. See you later Zed."

He gives her a little wave before turning and walking back across the street. Addison squeals excitedly, grabbing her work bag and rushing up the steps to the house.

—_Zed—_

"Daddy!"

Zed turns to look at the front door, watching as his daughter comes running from the steps to him. She's wearing a rainbow one piece, her pigtails from the morning frizzy and already coming undone.

Zed picks her up mid-run, laughing as she giggles. "You ready to wash a car, Princess?" he asks.

"Yes!" she cheers.

Zed carries her toward the garage, picking up the garden hose. "You know the drill. You get the hose I get the soap."

"Uh huh. Uh huh."

Zed sets her down and she immediately goes for the hose, picking it up and turning it on her dad. Zed shrieks and laughs, shielding himself from the spray as much as he can while Annabelle giggles and turns off the hose.

"Belle, you're supposed to wash _the car_," he says, feigning a stern and scolding tone.

Annabelle giggles again. "Sorry Daddy," she says, completely unapologetic.

"S'okay. Go rinse off the soap, I'm gonna call Auntie E."

Annabelle gasps and cheers. "Am I—Is Auntie Eliza gonna come over?"

"Hopefully, I gotta call her first."

"Yay!"

Zed just laughs, jogging over to the porch to grab his phone. He unlocks it and goes to call Eliza, his best friend who doubles as Annabelle's Godmother. It rings twice before Eliza picks up and says, "_Annabelle left some of her toys here._"

"Hello to you too," Zed says with an eye roll. "You wanna come over tonight?"

"_Why?_"

"Because I have a date. With my very attractive neighbor. Should be fun."

"_You got a date? With a girl?_"

Zed grins. "I know right! She's so cool and she's a teacher, which means she's smart. And she's so gorgeous."

Eliza snickers on the other end of the line. "_You sound like a stupid teenager._"

"I feel like a teenager," Zed states, "or like a kid in love. Yeah, that. A kid in love."

Eliza winces and says, "_Love is a strong word._"

Zed rolls his eyes. "It's a common phrase, E. Even a Shawn Mendes song."

"_You know Shawn Mendes? You let Annabelle listen to Shawn Mendes?_"

"Annabelle _loves _Shawn Mendes, she heard him on the radio and she wouldn't stop singing that song—um, _There's Nothing Holding Me Back_—so I went and I downloaded it and now we have dance parties."

Eliza snorts. "_You're such a Dad it's disgusting._"

"Well I've been doing this for six years." Eliza laughs again. "So will you babysit? I _really _wanna go out with Addison."

"_Of course. I'll be over in like, twenty minutes. And I'll bring the train set I bought for Belle that you purposely left at my place_."

"Not on purpose. You're on your own to set it up though."

"_Auntie E and Belle time!_" Eliza cheers, making Zed laugh.

Annabelle calls for him from the other side of the yard. Zed looks at her and she calls, "Daddy! I made a rainbow!"

She's not even washing the car anymore. She's standing in the grass and spraying the hose into the air and Zed can't help but laugh. "I'm coming Belle!" Then, into his phone, he says, "Gotta go. See you later E."

"_Twenty minutes_," she reminds him.

Zed hangs up and drops his phone in the box it had been in before. Zed jogs over to her, kneeling down next to her and looking at the rainbow in the spray. "Well would you look at that?" he notes.

"It's so cool! Rainbow in water!"

Zed chuckles. "Turn off the hose Belle," he tells her. "We can't waste water."

"S'not good for the earth," Annabelle says wisely, letting go of the trigger and shutting off the spray.

"Exactly," Zed says. "Your rainbow was very pretty Belle."

"Where did it come from?"

"You know I _could_ tell you," Zed pauses for dramatic effect, "but I think you should go to school tomorrow and ask Ms. Davis."

Annabelle frowns immediately. "I…the other kids don't like me Daddy. They were so mean today!"

Zed wraps his arms around his daughter, pulling her back into him. "Belle I know you had a bad day today," he sympathizes, "but I'm sure tomorrow will be better."

"They hate me," Annabelle grumbles. "I wanna go home."

Zed lets out sighs. "We are home. This is our new home, Belle. Daddy's got a new job and we've got this new house, you're gonna make tons of friends at your new school. You're gonna love it here, I promise."

Annabelle looks at him, unconvinced. She holds up her hand and sticks out her pinkie. "Pinkie promise?"

"Have I ever lied to you?"

Annabelle just looks at him, the same look her mother would give him when he would ask something that didn't even warrant an answer. Zed laughs and wraps his pinkie around hers. He gives her a very serious look that makes her giggle. "I pinkie promise," he says.

"'Kay." Annabelle squirms a little in Zed's arms. "Can I play with the hose more?"

"Why yes of course. But you gotta hit the car at least a few times."

"Deal."

—_Addison—_

Addison has the house to herself for a full hour and a half, which she first spends in the shower, then in front of her mirror, picking out an outfit.

The thing is - Addison hasn't been on a date in roughly ten years. Her last boyfriend broke up with her when she was going to college and she hasn't had the time for one since. Or, more precisely, guys didn't have the time for her. She had tried to date one guy during college, but their schedules clashed and they both figured it would be better if they just stopped trying.

Because of her complete lack of romance for nearly a decade, Addison doesn't know what to wear. She doesn't even know where they're going—if it's fancy or casual, if she should dress classy or formal or just wear jeans. She has no way of contacting Zed except walking across the street and quite frankly she didn't want to do that.

So that's how Bucky finds her when he gets home: Addison, standing in her underwear, glaring at her closet. "What the hell?" he mutters.

Addison's head snaps up to look at her cousin. She gives him a helpless little pout, pulling out all the stops to get him to help her. "I don't know what to wear."

"For what?" he asks. "You tell me to make you dinner then you cancel our plans. Do you have—"

"I have a date," she interrupts, "with our new, hot neighbor."

Bucky pulls a face. "Our new neighbor is hot?"

"He was outside, washing his car, shirtless," Addison explains. "What's a girl to do!"

Bucky laughs and she feels a small sense of rage surge through her. She's having an actual, teenage crisis. One she hasn't had since she was, well, an actual teenager. "Help me pick out an outfit?" she asks.

Bucky chuckles but moves to her closet. She calls it a win.

"Where are you guys going?" Bucky asks.

"No idea." Bucky gives her a surprised look and Addison just nods. "He said that he would take me out to dinner to turn my bad day into a good day."

Bucky whistles. "Damn he's smooth."

"Right!" Addison whines. "I need this to go well!"

"You really do," Bucky says offhandedly. "You're so lonely and mopey. You spend all day with six year-olds."

Addison pouts even though he does have a point. She does tend to be a bit mopey, but it's not a _problem_.

Bucky pulls out a jumpsuit, one that he had gotten her for her birthday (after complaining about her miserable love life for the umpteenth time). Its got vertical stripes—black, red, white, navy, and yellow—and it's just a lot sexier than everything Addison owns. Its got a deep V-neckline and spaghetti shoulder straps that show off a lot of her chest.

Bucky gives her a smug smile. "This is perfect."

"It's really…not."

He tilts his head and sighs. "Addison."

"What if I see one of my students? Or their parents?"

"Then they'll know that you're a twenty-eight year-old and _hot_." Addison looks at him, very uncomfortable. He just shrugs and says, "You got a nice body that your gross teacher pants don't do justice. And you're trying to get a guy. So you gotta flaunt it, Adds. Plus the only other things you have are your work clothes and there's no way I'm letting you leave this house looking like you're gonna teach six year olds how to spell."

Addison snorts a little. Bucky keeps giving her this look, telling her to just try it and it can't be awful. Addison rolls her eyes and concedes. "Alright fine." She snatches the hanger from her cousin. "Now I gotta change my bra," she grumbles as she moves around the room.

Bucky just laughs at her, going and leaving the room. "Let me know when you're dressed so I can make you hot," he calls when he's in the hall.

After she finishes getting into the jumpsuit, she calls Bucky back to her room. He looks her up and down and tsks.

"Get your concealer because these acne scars are not it."

Addison's jaw drops. "_Bucky!_"

Bucky is completely unfazed. "I'm looking out for you Addison," he says. "I'm gonna get you laid. Unlike you, I've been in another man's bed in the past month."

"Because you're a hoe."

Bucky ignores her, going over to her desk. "Concealer's over here?"

Addison rolls her eyes. She walks over to him and nudges his hip, pushing him to the side. Her desk is a mess of assignment drafts and worksheets already filled out in stubby first-grade-handwriting. She sits down in her desk chair and opens the bottom drawer which is filled with all of her makeup supplies.

She holds her concealer up like a prize to Bucky. "Here," she says, "and I'm gonna do my makeup."

"No you're not," Bucky shakes his head, "_I'm _gonna get you laid tonight."

"It's a school night!"

Bucky just rolls his eyes. "I'll grade your stupid worksheets just give me the answer key. Then you can get laid and get home and sleep."

"Okay one, I'm not gonna sleep with him," she states, "and two thank you. I might just let you do all my makeup."

"Let me? I think you're forgetting that I'm Bucky. I made you perfect for your sweet sixteen, your prom, and _both_ graduations."

Bucky does have a point. His track record of making her look amazing is flawless. He's had a lot of practice, considering he learned makeup techniques to teach Addison, and then he taught other kids at school when they asked him (he was cheer captain and they were little freshmen, they needed him). He doesn't disappoint this time either.

Addison doesn't keep a mirror on her desk because her desk is for work and nothing else. The door of her closet is a full-length mirror though, and she looks amazing. Bucky's been doing her makeup for years, so it's no surprise that he's done so well. He made her look alive, with natural tones and soft pink lipstick.

"Damn cuz." She whistles a little, giving him an impressed nod. "Now I just need shoes and accessories."

Bucky goes to her closet, grumbling as he rummages through. He pulls out a pair of brown heels and a pair of brown flats.

"Heels," Addison says, "because he's like, a million feet tall. Way taller than me."

"Or you're just really short."

"Or you're just really short," she says in a mockingly deep voice.

Bucky huffs a little. He thrusts the heels in her arms and drops the flats on the ground, knowing she's gonna take them as a back up. Addison sits back on her bed and starts putting her shoes on.

"I feel like I'm dressed really fancy," she complains. "What if it's nothing special? What is it's like, Chili's?"

"Then bring the flats and take off the jewelry." Bucky shrugs. "Lots of people look cute even at not fancy restaurants. And I doubt he's not gonna take you somewhere fancy."

"You should go ask him," she suggests. "Do your little Big-Brother-Interrogation. See if I should waste time with him or if he's actually worth it."

"Nope." Addison looks a little surprised. Bucky usually jumps at the opportunity to butt into her love life and now he's refusing. Bucky explains, "You're a grown woman, not a teenager. You don't need me harsssing any guy who shows an interest in you."

Addison pouts. She's upset but knows he's right.

"You should straighten your hair," he suggests, "and put it in a ponytail. That way it doesn't look like you're trying too hard."

"You could straighten my hair."

Bucky rolls his eyes. "Lazy bitch," he grumbles, but leaves the room and returns with the flat iron. "Go to your desk," he instructs.

Addison huffs and stands up, wobbling a little on her feet. She goes over to her desk and plops in her chair again. "Can I grade while you work?" Addison asks.

"Whatever," Bucky grumbles.

He plugs in the flat iron and sets it down while Addison starts sifting through her papers. She'd already graded their homework during her planning period and just had to grade the classwork, and in the back of her head she thinks about the test she needs to make for Friday but there's still a few days until then so she ignores the thought.

Addison loves her class, she really does. And she's been teaching for a few years now. She's seen a bunch of the tricks in the book, to get out of homework and classwork and quizzes. Her kids are smart and creative with their excuses and covers, that's for sure. She's grading math papers and there're the ones that got the lesson and could do the homework, the ones that try and did their best. And then there's Brian Lewis who wrote a letter on his math worksheet, detailing his night before with pictures and hundreds of excuses as to why he didn't do the math. He even went as far as to say that he didn't get the lesson (it was adding, and not hard-adding but adding that they had done in kindergarten with maybe a little more).

"Unbelievable," she mutters.

"What is?"

Addison reads him the letter. When she finishes, she says, "And there are pictures. This is ridiculous. This was _classwork._"

"Make him miss recess or something," Bucky suggests. "Oh! Give him silent lunch."

Addison snorted a little. "Silent lunch?"

"Yeah. Make him sit alone and quietly."

"Then I have to sit alone and watch him. I like eating with the kids."

"You're so lame."

"You're lame," Addison fires back. "I'll just take away his recess. If this keeps up…call his parents. I dunno I'm just trying to get through this."

"I told you I'd grade your stupid papers."

"I have a class of twenty-three and they had classwork in every subject. I'm just trying to lighten your load."

"Aw, how sweet."

Bucky finishes up on her hair, tying it up into a high ponytail. He even goes as far as to use her own hair as the ponytail holder, which is the perfect amount of extra she's going for. If she doesn't get this man in bed, there's gotta be something seriously wrong with him (it may not be the goal but would be a nice bonus). She knows she looks hot, and it's a Monday evening where she really doesn't have to dress up.

Bucky finally deems her ready for her date. Addison checks the time, seeing there's enough that she can give Bucky the answer key and a few instructions even though he doesn't really need them. He's been helping her grade papers for years now.

Finally, at a minute past seven-thirty, Zed's knock resounds through the house. Addison and Bucky exchange worried looks. They wordlessly move from her room to the front of the house.

"Wish me luck," Addison says, her voice wavering slightly with her nervousness.

"It'll go great, I know it." Bucky gives her a reassuring smile that puts Addison to ease.

Bucky leans against the wall; Addison gives him one last smile before pulling the door open and slipping out. Zed is standing on the other side and—wow. His hair is a little messy and he's wearing a grey button down with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows. Forearms should be illegal because his are killing her, and with his slacks he just looks so formal and casual and—wow.

"Wow," she breathes, looking him up and down slowly.

She feels embarrassed for a second. Then Zed says, "Wow," too, breathless and looking completely mesmerized.

Their eyes meet and Addison feels her chest tighten. He's giving her this smile, this adoring look, one she's never seen before.

"You look…" He trails off, his eyes looking her up and down, a soft smile on his face. "I have no words."

Addison's smile widens. "I have words: you look incredibly handsome and adorable and kinda sexy all at once and it's a little intimidating."

Zed's eyebrow goes up in surprise and he laughs. "Thank you, I think?" They both laugh. Zed holds out his hand for Addison which she takes. They start heading toward his house across the street, where there are two cars now parked. Odd.

"So where are we going?" Addison asks.

"It's seafood place downtown," Zed explains as he walks them to the car. "My friend Eliza and I would go there way back when we were kids."

"You're from Seabrook?" Zed nods and Addison grins. "Me too, but I don't remember ever seeing you."

"Well I am grossly old, almost thirty."

Addison laughed. "Thirty isn't old! I'm twenty-eight, gonna be thirty soon."

"No way you're twenty-eight," Zed says. They pause at the edge of the driveway, looking both ways then crossing the street. "I would've guessed you were…fresh out of college."

Addison giggles and swats his shoulder. "You don't have to keep flattering me, you've got me on a date already."

"One, I'm never gonna stop complimenting you because you're beautiful and you deserve to know it as much as possible." Addison feels her face heat up and she casts her eyes to the ground.

They stop at the passenger door of his car. Addison asks Zed, "Um, what's two?"

"I…uh," Zed chuckled a little and rubs his neck nervously. "Don't be mad, but, as much as I would love to call this a date, and we still can if you want, I can't."

And, well, fuck. Her face falls and she can feel her hope crumple away.

Zed's eyes widen and he quickly says, "It has nothing to do with you! I just-I have a daughter and she's six and she _hates _it here! And I can't get into a relationship until Annabelle is more settled in and she isn't crying every time I pick her up from school. Please understand."

Her mind is blank for a second. She missed about everything he said after '_I have a daughter_', which was a completely valid reason to not want a relationship. And there is still the hope of eventually dating him, and he still said he wanted to take her tonight.

Addison blinks and asks, "What?"

"My daughter, today was her first day of school here and it was complete scat swapping smiggles," Zed explains in a rush. "She was crying when I picked her up and I just really hate seeing her cry, she's my little princess. And she looked so crushed when I told her I was going out tonight and I can't do this to her and—"

"Wait, today was your daughter's first day of school here?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Is…is her name Annabelle? Annabelle Necrodopolus?"

"How did you—oh…"

Addison nods slowly, because naturally, her hot new neighbor is the father of her new student. _Of course_.

"So you're Ms. Davis," Zed says, his mouth pursed.

"Yep." Addison nods. Things are awkward now and Addison doesn't know what to say. "Do you…do you still wanna get dinner?"

"You still wanna go with me? After…" he gestured vaguely.

"Yes. Not a date but, making friends." Addison shrugs.

Zed's smile brightens enough to light up a whole planet. Addison giggles at him. He unlocks the car and gets the door for her; Addison climbs in and Zed jogs around to the driver's side, climbing in.

"I have so many questions," Zed says as soon as they're on the road.

"We should establish some rules first," Addison suggests. "We can talk about Annabelle and work and whatever for now, but when we get to the restaurant, can we drop it and just try to be friends first? Like not talk about kids and my job and be friends!"

Zed smiles at that. "Yeah, I'm totally cool with that," Zed says.

Addison lets out a sigh of relief. "Okay, so shoot," Addison says.

"What the hell did you do to my daughter today!" The words are angry but Zed has a kind of playful smile on his face that puts Addison at ease.

"I told you everyone was acting like monsters today," Addison says as an explanation. "It was just a bad day for someone to start."

"Oh was it?" Zed mocks.

Addison can't help but giggle. She looks at Zed and sees that he's still smiling, so she knows she's not being rude or insensitive.

"Tomorrow will be better," Addison assures him. "I'm gonna put her next to Matthew Izaki."

"Who?"

"Room mom's kid," Addison explains. "Also my godson. He's an angel, perfect. I'll have him show her the ropes and shit, he's a good kid. I think they might be good friends."

"Good," Zed says. "Annabelle is my princess, my little girl. I really hate seeing her cry."

"She seems really sweet," Addison says sympathetically. "And her hair was really cute today, just FYI. Marcus was wrong for ruining it."

"She _loves_ pigtails," Zed says with a smile. "Eliza did them once when Belle was two and she refuses to leave the house without them. She thinks it's good luck."

"Aw," Addison gushes. "Zed, your daughter is quickly becoming my absolute favorite student. She's so cute."

"That's how you know she's my girl," Zed says proudly.

Addison giggles. "Yes, you're very cute too," she says, patting his arm affectionately.

She remembers then a little detail that seemed unimportant at the time, but is starting to show some significance. It was random and shouldn't have even crossed her mind, but it does and she's pretty grateful. "I just remembered that it's kinda frowned upon in my contract to get…romantically involved with my students' parents. Which won't be a problem, since we're friends."

Zed looks at her and gives a smile (it looks a little pained but Addison won't read too much into it). "I'm glad we're friends."

"You haven't even had a real conversation with me," she points out, amused.

Zed shrugs. "I can tell you're a cool person. I mean your fashion sense alone is enough to say you haven't had the life sucked out of you by your first grade class."

"This was all thanks to my cousin," Addison admits. "He's awesome. Let's me live in his house and all I have to do is buy groceries."

"No rent?"

"Nope," Addison says. "His parents own the house, but they moved out of Seabrook while he was in college and gave it to him when he graduated. So he only has to pay for utilities."

"That's…"

"Bucky's parents are rich as fuck," Addison summarizes. "And he's an only child so he gets whatever he wants."

"And you?"

"My parents and I aren't on speaking terms." Addison says coldly. To make her statement less odd, she adds, "I was living at home after I graduated, they didn't like it, we fought. Words were said that can't be taken back, and now I live with Bucky."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. You weren't there." Addison shrugs. "What about you? What's your family like?"

"I…have a little sister," Zed explains, "she's nine years younger than me. So twenty."

"You're twenty-nine?"

He nods, then continues. "She's in school, at NYU Tisch. Pretty cool." He smiled to himself and Addison figured out that he must be really close with his little sister, especially with how fondly he's talking about her. "My mom died a little after my sister was born. So it's just been us and our dad for, like, ever."

"Oh."

"My Dad is cool though," Zed says. "We moved from Seabrook to New York after my mom died. And I lived there until a few days ago."

Addison raised her eyebrow. "Why'd you move?"

"I didn't wanna raise Belle in New York City. It's huge and honestly kinda gross. And my friend…she told me about a decent job here and I figured 'why not?'"

"What do you mean by 'decent job'?" Addison asks.

"Haven't started yet, so I'm not really sure what I _really_ do. But it'll pay the bills so." He shrugs. "All I know is that I can work from home if I so choose to, so."

"So like, customer service?"

Zed nods. "I'm too stupid to do like, numbers and techy stuff, so I'm just doing customer service."

"Don't say you're stupid."

"Oh life is a lot better when you realize you suck at computers and math and stuff like that," Zed says. "Helps you realize what you're actually good at."

"Which is?"

Zed smiled and says, "I'm a people person."

Addison laughs and Zed chuckled proudly. "Well that's way cooler than being a teacher," Addison says.

Zed just gives her this look and she relents. "Okay, maybe not as cool as teaching."

"Did you always wanna teach?" Zed asked.

Addison nods. "When I was younger I would teach at summer camps—classes for kids. I did tutoring in high school and then I was like 'I gotta do this for real.' But I wanted to teach high school, which obviously didn't happen."

"Why not?"

"When I applied, I didn't have enough experience." Addison shrugs. "Though I plan on moving up to the high school level next year. I've got a masters in Mythological Studies which means I can teach all types of classes, and a bachelors in education."

Zed whistles lowly. "Ducks and geese, that's impressive."

Addison blinks for a second. Zed's been saying a lot of weird and crazy phrases but that was one of the more strange ones that she couldn't keep ignoring.

"I-what?" Zed chuckles a little and raised an eyebrow at her, his face asking her to elaborate. "Did you—ducks and what?"

Zed cackles out a laugh. "Sorry, those are force of habit," he laughs. "Cursing alternatives. It's easier than putting money in a jar every time I curse."

Addison is still confused and asks, "What?"

"It's called the most creative alternative—which, by the way, wasn't my best work. I've done a lot better."

Even though she's still a little confused, she laughs. "Kudos to you," she says. "I just try not to curse. Which I'm obviously not good at."

"You really aren't," Zed chuckles, "So what's mythological studies? Why'd you pick it?"

"Well I took a Mesopotamian mythology class as an elective, and it was awesome, so I double majored." Addison shrugs. "It's really interesting, actually. There was a lot of folklore and stuff. Like not just myths but also history behind things like vampires and werewolves and zombies."

"Really?"

Addison nods. "Yeah it's all pretty cool. That's the subject I'm gonna teach next year."

"Oh you already have the job?"

"I mean, I still have to interview, which is in December, but it's pretty much a guarantee."

Zed nods and it falls silent between them. It's not an awkward or uncomfortable one, where Addison would feel compelled to say something. It's nice actually.

It's a few minutes later when Zed asks, "You wanna put on music? I've heard you can tell a lot about someone from what they listen to."

"All you'll learn is, again, I'm a first grade teacher," Addison states. "I listen to whatever the kids like. I don't have personal preference. What do you listen to?"

"Whatever Belle is into at the moment," Zed concedes. "Currently it's Shawn Mendes and Taylor Swift. Like, early two thousands Taylor Swift and first album Shawn Mendes."

"Which are both excellent choices."

"I know all the words to every song on _Fearless_," Zed says with a shiver, sounding actually afraid.

Addison giggles. "Well now you gotta put it on and show off your skills."

Zed scoffs and picks up his phone. He unlocks it and opens the music app without taking his eyes off the road. The beginning notes of _Fearless_ start playing through the speakers and Zed drops his phone down in the cup holder.

Zed's an above average singer. They jam to Taylor Swift's collection of albums on a shuffled playlist.

Dinner is fantastic. Zed is great company; he's funny and charming and cute and smart and just great. They get ice cream at Haagen-Dazs after, then Zed drives them back to the suburbs, where they go their separate ways.

—_Zed—_

Zed opens his door and the house is silent. He hasn't stopped smiling all night and nothing can ruin his good mood. Addison is just amazing.

Eliza's sitting on his couch with the television on low volume. She gives him a little wave which Zed reciprocates. He toes off his shoes and drops his stuff on the table beside the door, then makes his way to the hallway, heading to Annabelle's room. The door is cracked open just a bit so that the light from the hall shines in and Zed pushes it open. It's a mess of half-assembled furniture and boxes that still need to be unpacked.

Annabelle's bed is against the wall, filled with all her stuffed animals. Annabelle is closer to the wall with her arms wrapped tightly around her large stuffed bunny. Zed goes over to her, inspecting the bed and her room and making sure she's tucked in tightly.

He leans down and presses a soft kiss to her forehead. She's sleeping soundly already, so Zed goes and plugs in her nightlight, then leaves her room and closes the door. He goes and sits next to Eliza, letting out a blissful sigh.

"So…how was your date?" Eliza asks.

"It was perfect," he smiles at the ceiling, "and Addison is just-she's the perfect woman."

"Did you tell her about Annabelle?"

Zed nods.

"What'd she say?"

He lets out a sigh. "She is Annabelle's teacher."

He glances at Eliza and sees her surprised look. She doesn't say anything for a minute, and Zed worries about what's going on in her head. He can't even imagine what she's thinking, so he's grateful when she finally asks, "How did she get to that conclusion?"

"I told her Annabelle was six and had an awful first day and she thought 'woah my new student also had a pretty bad day' and she asked her name." Zed shrugs half heartedly.

"And?"

"And dating parents is…frowned upon, in her contract," Zed says. His smile starts to falter a little as he thinks about the ending of their car conversation. "She says that I shouldn't wait for Annabelle to get out of her class. That I should go and find the woman of my dreams."

Eliza frowns and pats his knee. "Sorry man, that sounds awful," she sympathizes.

"It was," Zed says. He thinks back to the dinner though, the good time he had with Addison despite the fact that he can't even date her. "Though it was still great hanging out with her. I haven't had such a good time since Liz."

"Really?" Eliza asks a little disbelievingly. Which was fair. The last serious relationship Zed was in was with Annabelle's mom, Lizzie. After Liz, Zed had tested out the dating scene but no one was ever just right, which meant they weren't nearly as good as Liz had been.

"Yes really," Zed says. "Not to sound creepy or anything, but she reminds me a lot of Liz. But not in the way that I'm trying to recreate what we had. You know what I mean?"

Eliza shakes her head and Zed sighs, not surprised. Eliza doesn't usually get what he means and it's not like he can blame her, because a lot of the time it doesn't make sense.

"I'm tired," he says, standing up. "Gonna hit the hay."

"Alright." Eliza stands too and Zed walks with her to the door, then out to her car. "I promised Belle I'd be over tomorrow for dinner so make something good."

Zed chuckles and nods. "Of course. See you tomorrow then."

Eliza gets in her car, gives Zed a wave, then pulls out. Zed goes back to his house and heads to his own room. He climbs into bed and a minute later, his door opens and Annabelle slowly creeps in. She's shuffling her feet and clutching her bunny tightly.

"Daddy? Can…can I sleep in your room tonight?"

"What's wrong Belle?"

"My room's scary," she mutters.

Zed sighs, because it's been like this since they moved to Seabrook on Wednesday, and they actually moved into the house on Friday. She just hates her room so much. "Come here Princess."

Annabelle runs across the room and crawls into her dad's bed. She snuggles up against him with her bunny, and falls asleep a few moments later.

Zed lays back in his bed and sighs. Annabelle sleeps in his bed when she has nightmares or when she doesn't want to be alone, which has been nearly constant since she found out they were moving. Yes, Zed loves being needed. He loved his daughter to pieces.

But it's been almost seven years since his last relationship. He misses being with someone, having someone to hold and cuddle and just lean on. He misses the softness of having someone to come home to, the little things like back massages and soft morning kisses and sleepy cuddles on Sunday mornings. He just misses it all so much and a small part of him hoped that he could get that with Addison.

And of course Addison had to be Annabelle's teacher. Of course it's "frowned upon" in her contract and she tells him to go be happy with someone else in Seabrook and "Ugh," Zed groans.

He considers getting a tinder. Or some other dating app.

Instead though, he falls asleep, thinking about his date with Addison.

* * *

Zed won't start working until the following Monday so he was left with unpacking while Annabelle was at school. It wasn't fun in the slightest but it needed to be done. Plus, Annabelle had a way of distracting him from the task at hand (i.e: washing the car yesterday instead of unpacking because "it's more fun!"). With the house empty he could focus on figuring out where everything goes.

The downside is that he's completely alone. The house is empty and the streets are quiet and it's all so different than New York. It's just so gut crushingly lonely.

He really misses Liz. He's been missing her a lot, lately. Like, an overwhelming amount of his days have been spent longing after her, and it makes him pretty miserable.

"You need to stop thinking about Liz," he says out loud. "Get out there man. Get a life…And stop talking to yourself."

Yes, he had been hoping for something to happen with Addison. But the circumstances didn't mean he had to mope about her forever. He could get another date. He was Zed Necrodopolus, he was charming, damnit!

His ringer goes off in the other room and he's got a text. The only people who are texting him recently are his dad, his sister, and Eliza. Eliza and his dad are at work and Zoey's got class, so he has no idea who can be texting him. He goes and grabs his phone and sees it's an unknown number.

**unknown [to Zed]: I need you to come in 3 for a meeting**

**unknown [to Zed]: This is your daughter's teacher, Addison Davis, by the way**

Zed frowns at his phone. He didn't recall giving her his number last night.

**Zed [to Addison]: How'd you get my number?**

**Addison [to Zed]: The school, keep up. Meeting today. Don't be late. **

**Zed [to Addison]: Yes ma'am**

He doesn't have any idea what the meeting is going to be about, but the thought of seeing Addison again is exciting in itself.

He goes back to cleaning his house until an hour before he has to get Annabelle. He showers and gets dressed, then makes his way to the elementary school. He waits in the parking lot instead of the pick-up line until it's two forty-five, then he gets out and heads to the front of the school as the kids start pouring out.

There are groups of parents around the entrance. Zed looks around at them, seeing the obvious group of popular moms laughing it up with their Gucci bags and reflective sunglasses, the pair of moms who he suspected were lesbian moms but that was _not _his business, the group of moms who were friends but clearly wanted to get back to work. All in all, there was a lack of any guys there to pick up their kids, except for the few high schoolers who must have been waiting for their younger siblings.

Yesterday he had picked Annabelle up early and missed the dismissal traffic. Now that he's there, he just feels completely out of place. He's been gone from Seabrook for twenty years and he didn't expect it to be the same but he also didn't expect it to be so _different_.

Annabelle comes out of the school with her head down, walking quickly. She looks up and spots him, relief flooding her face and his heart breaks a little. Annabelle runs to him and Zed wraps his arms around her, lifting her up.

"Daddy!"

Zed laughs and kisses her cheek. "Hey Princess, how was school?"

Annabelle is smiling, remaining silent as she thinks back to her day. "I made a friend today," she finally says.

Zed gasps excitedly, a huge smile breaking on his face. "You did?"

"Uh huh!" Annabelle says with a proud smile. "Her name is Jenny Harris. She gave me half a cookie at lunch and I gave her half my cupcake. Then we tried doing cartwheels at recess."

"Really?"

Annabelle nods. "She's really nice. She asked Mr. Izaki to sit next to me in art class too!"

"That's so great, Belle!"

"Can we get ice cream?"

Zed laughs. "Maybe after. I have a meeting with Ms. Davis today."

"Aw why!" Annabelle whines.

Zed laughs again, walking towards the entrance of the school. "Your teacher wants to see me, that's all I know," Zed says. "Now where's her classroom?"

Annabelle squirms in his arms and he sets her down. She grabs his hand and runs down the hall, pulling him along into an open classroom.

Addison is sitting at her desk with thin glasses perched on her nose. Her hair is pulled up in a messy bun and she's having a light conversation with another woman who's sitting on the desk.

They both look up at Zed and Annabelle as they enter. Addison smiles at him and says, "Hey you're early."

Zed chuckles and nods. "Yeah. I can wait outside if you want."

"No, come on in," Addison says. She turns her attention to Annabelle and asks, "You know Matthew is hanging out in the art room with his dad? Do you wanna go play with him?"

Annabelle nods quickly. She looks at Zed and asks, "Can I Daddy?"

"Yeah, go have fun," Zed says and Annabelle runs out of the room.

Zed crosses the room to stand in front of Addison's desk. He smiles at the other woman in the room. "I'm Zed Necrodopolus," he introduces, holding out his hand.

"Bree Izaki," she says, shaking his hand. "I'm the room mom."

"And my best friend in the entire world," Addison adds.

Bree and Addison both giggle. "Sorry," Addison apologizes. "You can grab a seat wherever. There's one normal sized chair over there, just bring it over."

Zed nods and goes to grab the rolling chair, wheeling it over to Addison's desk and sitting down.

"So what's up?"

"Well first Bree wanted to meet you," Addison says.

"As room mom it's my job to know all the parents and rope you into doing hours of service for the class," Bree states. "Addison already gave me your number and email. The only other thing that involved me is the parent meeting tonight."

"Tonight?"

"We meet the second Tuesday of every month," Bree explains. "Attendance is important unless you wanna get stuck with crap jobs."

Zed raised an eyebrow and Bree just waved him off. "Don't worry," she says, "I'll get you the hookup. Just be at the meeting by six thirty, kay?"

"Uh, okay."

Bree stands up and goes around the desk and gives Addison a hug. "Okay I'm gonna go find James, I'll see you tonight," she says.

"Bye Bree," Addison says, watching as her friend leaves.

Bree gives them a wave and closes the door, leaving them alone. Zed turns his attention back to Addison and smiles. "What else?" he asks.

Addison smiles proudly and says, "Annabelle made a friend today."

Zed breaks out in a huge grin. "I know, she told me!" he says happily. "I was a little worried she'd hate it here and now she's got a friend."

Addison's got a soft smile on her face. She leans back in her chair and takes off her glasses. "Aside from that, we do have actual things to discuss," she says. "Last week you met with Principal Glen and I was supposed to be there but I got pretty sick so I missed it. I did get notes from her though, but I kinda have to have this meeting."

"You wear glasses?"

Addison groans a little. "Were you even listening to me?"

Zed laughs. "Yeah I'm just—how long have you had glasses?"

"I'm a teacher, Zed. I've spent years reading and doing really bad things for my eyes. I can't see." Addison shrugs. "I scratched my cornea this morning so no contacts for me for a while."

"Ah okay," Zed nods, "So, meeting?"

"Right," Addison says. "I've got all the information on Annabelle's past schools and work and behaviors. I spent the weekend going through her file so I've got all of that, and everything you and Principal Glen discussed."

"Okay."

"I think the first thing we should go over are any concerns you have for the upcoming school year. About Annabelle, like social concerns or learning concerns. Anything?"

"I mean, I think you've already figured out that Annabelle is having a hard time with the move."

Addison snorts. "I think hard is an understatement."

"I just don't understand why she hates Seabrook so much."

"Um, because it's Seabrook?" Addison says with a laugh. "I'm not gonna lie. I hate this place. I'm only here because it's the only place I can afford."

"Why do you hate it here?"

Addison shrugs. "Mostly because of my parents. They were…toxic, in mild terms."

Zed tilts his head in confusion. "But…you said you moved back home after college." He couldn't understand why she would willing go back home if her parents were toxic, like she said they were.

"I didn't really have much of a choice in that matter, Zed. They paid for my college and I didn't have a job so I couldn't move out."

"So then why are you still here?"

Addison shrugs. "I dunno, it's easier I guess." At Zed's raised eyebrow, she further explains, "It's easier to stay where I'm comfortable than to try something new. It's just how I am."

"And you're getting a new job?"

Addison nods. "We're supposed to be talking about your daughter, not my life," she says. Zed just nods. He knows they're not close enough for him to start giving her advice (hopefully they will be eventually). "What do you think I can do as her teacher to help her adjust to the move?"

Zed sits back because he's never been with Annabelle in a classroom setting before. The only time he sees her doing schoolwork is the hour after school ends when she does her homework, which is completely different from being in a school setting. Even back in New York, he had only ever gone on one field trip and he couldn't take much time off to volunteer in the classroom. He got one day off on her birthday and it was her birthday. Everyone was nice because they wanted cupcakes.

"I'm gonna turn the question on you," Zed says, "because I don't see Annabelle often in a classroom setting. What have you noticed about her in the two days she's been in your class?"

Addison hums and nods, tapping her pen on her desk as she thinks. "I…I would say that she's either having a hard time adjusting from New York, or she's really quiet."

Zed chuckled and shakes his head. "She doesn't really like making new friends," he says. "I know that. It's…I think it's because she never really had any other kids around when she was growing up. Like I didn't schedule play dates for her and it was always me and my sister taking care of her. It probably ruined her social skills."

"Did she go to preschool?"

"No," Zed says. "I couldn't afford it. She didn't go to school until last year, kindergarten. But I don't think she had many friends at her old school."

Addison nods. "I can tell, she…I don't know if it's because you recently moved or not but she had a tendency to sit quietly and put her head down and just not participate."

"Should I be worried?"

"Nah," Addison says. "I'll let you know when to be concerned. I do have your phone number now so I can just hit you up whenever."

Zed laughs and Addison smiles a little proudly. "In other news, I've made a list of all the single moms with kids in the preschool all the way to my class who are attractive and aren't monsters," Addison says.

"What?"

Addison giggles and pulls out a notepad from her desk. "A lot of these divorcees are divorced because they were cheating," Addison says. "Also this isn't information I'm getting from school files. Gotta disclose that otherwise I can get sued. I got all this from Bree because she's such a gossip."

"Uh okay?"

"I've got a list of six women who aren't total…bad people," Addison smiles sheepishly and shrugs. "I have two of their kids in my class so I can't really bad mouth them."

Zed raised a curious eyebrow, so she explains, "If you were to go out with one of their moms, and you accidentally told them the bad stuff I told you about them that I get from gossip, things would be bad."

"Go out with them?"

"Why else would I make you a list of hot single moms?"

"This is all…" Zed didn't know what to say. He's been in Seabrook for less than a week and so much has happened, it's all very overwhelming. "It's very, nice of you. But—"

"I know, you don't want a relationship now," Addison says. "But, take Jack Michaels's Mom. She's got a first grader, her husband left her for a twenty-year old yoga instructor last year. She's desperate and hot and she's pretty nice."

"Uh okay," Zed says. "Baby steps, okay? I should probably finish unpacking my house before I even think about seeing someone." '_And hopefully the person I date is you_.'

"Of course," Addison says, "I was just really excited about this list I made because I am very _very_ proud of it."

"As you should be," he says with a smile. "Anything else?"

Addison shakes her head. "Nothing else. I'll see you tonight though. At six thirty, no later."

Zed stands up. "Six thirty, got it."

"Bye Zed."

—_Addison_—

As soon as Zed leaves, Addison drops her head on the desk. He's so hot it's starting to hurt, really. The fact that he's so attractive and nice and such a great guy and she just _can't _be with him hurts a lot.

"Addy?" Addison lifts her head and sees Bree standing in the doorway. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Do you have wine at your house?" Addison asks hopefully.

"We have to meet parents tonight so no wine until later."

Addison pouts but gets up. "Okay let's go, I need a break," she says. "Where's my little man?"

"With his daddy," Bree says. "And last I saw, also Annabelle, who is a delight, by the way. And her daddy isn't too bad either."

Bree has a smug look on her face and Addison rolls her eyes. She grabs her bag and her keys and walks to Bree. "He's very cute," Addison agrees as they leave her classroom. "But his daughter is in my class and he told me he doesn't want a relationship at this moment."

"Did you see the way he looks at you?"

"Bree, I can't date him," Addison states. "Besides he's a single dad. I don't date single dads. They've got baggage, like ex-wives or shared custody issues, and the priority of raising his daughter. Who's _in my class_."

"You don't know he has an ex-wife," Bree points out.

"I do know that he hasn't mentioned her once which is more concerning than anything," Addison says. "Stop talking about him until we're alone. Don't wanna risk Matt repeating this in front of Annabelle."

Bree hums. They go into the art room where Bree's husband, James (nicknamed Bonzo), is wrapping up clay bags while Matthew is cleaning paint brushes.

"Hey Addison," Bonzo greets. He looks at Bree and asks, "You ready to go Babe?"

"Yes," Bree answers, "come on Bubba."

Matt runs to his mom and she picks him up. Bonzo grabs his stuff and they all head to the faculty parking lot. "You guys got plans today?" Bonzo asks.

"Parent meeting at seven," Bree says, "which means it's just you and Matt tonight."

Bonzo chuckled a little while his son cheers excitedly. "I'm also gonna go grab food with Addy," Bree adds.

"Can I come too?" Matt asks hopefully.

"You have homework," Bree reminds him.

"Aw!" Matt whines.

Addison giggles and ruffles his hair. "You can come next time, Matty," she says, "I promise."

Matt's still pouting but he agrees. Bree hands him off to his dad and gives both of them a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you guys later, okay?" Bree says.

"Bye Honey," Bonzo says.

"Bye Mommy!"

Bree blows them a kiss and follows Addison to her car across the lot. They get in and Addison drives away from the school, heading to a local sandwich shop in Midtown. Bree goes and gets them a table while Addison orders their sandwiches.

Once Addison gets back with their food and she sits down, Bree says, "So tell me about Zed."

Addison rolls her eyes. "There's nothing to tell."

"There's everything to tell," Bree counters. "You can argue it all you want but that man is _so_ into you. I saw the way he looked at you."

"Bree, I've already said this," Addison says, "he literally _told me_ he doesn't want a relationship right now."

"What about in the future? Like a few weeks from now? What about then?"

"I'll still be Annabelle's teacher which means that nothing will happen," Addison says. "Besides, I've already started making a list of hot, nice, divorcees and widows from the school."

"And why would you do that?"

"Because…" Addison sighs and drops her head on the table, "I'm stupid," she mumbles.

Bree pats Addison's arm sadly. "You really are."

Addison snaps her head up and glares. "Don't be a bitch about it," she grumbles. Bree just laughs and turns her attention to her lunch.

Bree goes ahead and changes the subject to talk about the upcoming parent meeting. Which turns into them gossiping about the first graders, which turned to them discussing all the different parents at the elementary school. Finally, they end up talking about Addison's coming job at Seabrook High School.

Not much later, they leave the restaurant and head back to the school to set up for parent night, which is like a PTA meeting but just for Addison's first grade class. Bree is technically in charge of the meeting, but Addison still has to go and show face while Bree runs things. It would be the first meeting of the year so they had to talk about field trips and class visits and volunteering and fundraisers.

After eating, they go back to the school to start setting up for the meeting. Bree goes and prints out all the papers she needs in the copy center while Addison starts stacking up her chairs and moving them to the side. The chairs and desks are designed for first graders which means she has to go around the school and get chairs made for older kids and adults which is just a lot more work than she wants, but she has to do it.

Manual labor is disgusting, honestly. It's hard and sweaty and no one really appreciates it, and she had to do it alone.

There's knocking at the door and when Addison looks over, Zed is peering in. It's barely six thirty, the meeting won't start for almost forty more minutes. Then she remembers that Bree told Zed to get there early for…reasons, and now Zed is standing there, watching Addison struggle to move stacks of tiny baby chairs and yeah, it's a little embarrassing.

"Hey," he greets. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah." Addison straightens up and brushes nonexistent dirt from her pants. "You're early."

He walks in a chuckles a little. "Well one, you guys told me to come at six thirty. Even though the email that I got said seven."

Addison shrugs, feigning innocence.

"And two, I got kicked out," he says. "Eliza wanted maximum girl time with Belle, so she literally pushed me out the door."

Addison giggles a little. Zed looks around the messy room slowly. "So…whatcha doing?"

"I can't have parents sit in baby chairs," Addison explains. "Wanna help?"

Zed shrugs. "Sure."

"Come with me," Addison says. She leads the way out of the classroom and down the hall.

"Where exactly are we going?" Zed asks as they start to climb the stairs.

"Kindergarten, first and second grade use little chairs," Addison explains, "and third, fourth, and fifth use big chairs. Unfortunately, those classrooms are upstairs, which means we have to gather all the ones we need, take them to the elevator, and then do this all again at the end of the night. Well I have to."

"No way, I can help you after too," Zed says. "I'm not allowed home until eight thirty, which is ridiculous."

"What, why?"

"Eliza took Belle out for dinner," Zed complains, "and then to the park which is stupid because Belle's bedtime is eight forty-five and if she goes to the park she's gonna need another bath which means she won't go to sleep until late and then she'll be super cranky in the morning."

Addison nods, musing over his words for a minute. She leads them to a classroom at the other end of the hall where the chairs are already stacked up against the wall.

"So how cranky is super cranky?" Addison asks. "I am her teacher and it's kinda difficult to deal with tired, cranky kids."

Zed laughs. "Oh she'll be a delight to you," Zed says. "Not for me. Tomorrow morning is gonna be awful."

Addison gives him a pout. She turns and faces him, standing on her toes to pat the top of his head. "Poor baby," she tells him.

Zed pouts too. "How do you deal with all those kids? It's so exhausting."

"My students go home at three," Addison says. "Plus, I didn't have to potty train any of them."

Zed lets out a whine and Addison smiles sympathetically. She moved her hand down to cradle his jaw, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "Haven't you been doing this Dad-thing for six years?"

"That doesn't mean it's easy," he whines. "Annabelle can be a lot of work."

Addison smiles and pats his cheek. "That's why I don't have kids."

She turns and walks away, heading to the farthest stack of chairs. Zed laughs and Addison blushes a little, refusing to turn around to face him.

"Are you _sure_ that's why?" Zed asks smuggly.

Addison gapes and turns around to face him. "That was rude!"

Zed laughs and jogs over to her. He wraps his arms around her and gives her a tight hug. "I'm just messing with you Addy," he says, directly in her ear.

Addison tenses a little and Zed lifts her up off her feet and she lets out an unpleasant huff of air. "You're so small," he laughs. "It's so adorable."

Addison scowls and squirms in his arms. "Put me down this instant!" she shouts furiously.

Zed laughs and spins her around and it would be a lot cuter if Addison didn't _loathe_ being picked up. She kicks and wiggles until she actually hurts him and he drops her back on the ground. She falls on her ass and she's not too upset about it because he's cradling his shin.

"Jiminy Cricket on a rocket ship Addison!"

And, well, the most creative alternative is pretty funny and Addison's anger melts away and she starts laughing. Zed scowls and she laughs harder, rolling onto her back.

"You know I'm starting to understand why you were so angry literally four seconds ago," Zed says.

"First lesson for being back in Seabrook," Addison says with a smile. "Don't pick up short people. We don't like it."

Zed frowns at her. "You're mean."

"You sound like a first grader," she counters.

Zed shots her a glare. Addison just laughs and gets up. "Don't be a baby, we have to get these chairs downstairs."

—_Zed_—

Parent meetings are awful. It's worse than the pick-up; everyone's in a group and if they're not in a group they're in a clique and if they're not in a clique they're in a squad and if they're not in a squad they're Zed. It's awful, really.

Bree had already given him first picks at the volunteer sheets so he doesn't understand why he had to stay through the whole meeting. Of course there's the agenda that says everything Bree talks about and the fact that he promised Addison to help her clean up after but still. He can be home, doing chores and spending time with Annabelle, both of which are better than the parent meeting where he knows no one.

Well, he thinks he doesn't know anyone. He doesn't recognize anyone at least. But he's got a weird feeling that he knows someone in the room and it's odd and making him a little uncomfortable. The only people he remembers from Seabrook are his two friends from when he was eight. He's been lucky to keep in touch with Eliza over the years but he could barely remember the other friend's name (something unusual).

After the meeting ends and Addison kicks out all the parents, it's just the two of them, Bree, and Bree's husband, James, and Bree and James's son Matthew who Annabelle is very fond of (in a platonic way, of course).

Addison had given Zed and James the task of returning the normal chairs upstairs, which was disappointing because Zed wanted more time to hang out with Addison. But James is cool too.

When they get back downstairs, Addison and Bree and Matthew are each laying on a pair of desks, clearly exhausted. James laughs and goes to his son, lifting him off the table. "Tired Bud?" he asks.

"Mhm," Matthew hums sleepily. "Are we going home now?"

"Yeah."

And the entire exchange makes Zed wish he was at home with his own baby.

Addison gets up and stretched with a smile. "Get out of my classroom Bree," she says. Bree sits up and groans. "I'll see you tomorrow," Addison says.

"I love Wednesdays," Bree says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Addison just laughs. She goes ahead and grabs Zed's arm, dragging him back to her desk. "It's barely eight so sit," she instructs him.

"Uh okay." Zed sits down in her desk chair while she jogs over to her friends, giving them each a hug.

"Bye Bree, bye Bonzo, bye Matt," she says to each of them.

Zed swivels around in the chair and calls, "Wait," making them all stop as he thinks. '_Who in the name of the good lord is Bonzo_?'

Two things click in his brain. One, Bonzo is the name of the kid from elementary school who Zed was best friend's with. He could remember only a few people from elementary school but he'd never forget a name like 'Bonzo'. And two, Bonzo's gotta be James's nickname.

A third thing clicks in his head, this one taking a second longer. Could it be possible that Bree's married to Zed's best friend from third grade? How many other people were nicknamed Bonzo?

"Zed?" Addison asks.

He starts talking before he's collected most of his thoughts. "Did…did James—Bonzo—did he grow up here?"

Addison nods. "Bonzo and Bree and I, we all did," she says. "He was in the grade ahead of us but that couldn't keep him from Bree. They were high school sweethearts." She sighs wistfully.

Bonzo's raising an eyebrow and asks, "Why do you ask?"

Zed licks his lips and hums. "I'm ninety percent sure we were best friends in the third grade," he says.

Bonzo thinks for a moment and his eyes slowly widen in realization. "Oh my god you're right!"

Zed laughs and says, "What a small world. It's good to see you man."

"You too," he says. "We should meet up sometime. Hang out, catch up."

Bonzo turns his attention to Matthew and asks, "You wanna have a playdate with Annabelle this weekend?"

Matthew nods but he's clearly too tired to give a proper answer. "Let's get him home," Bree says, "we'll let you know, Zed."

"Sounds good."

They leave and Zed hums to himself. That was weird, but cool. Addison sits down on her desk in front of Zed and says, "How did you even remember that?" she muses.

"I couldn't forget a name like Bonzo, even if I tried."

"But third grade. That was like, twenty whole years ago."

"I'm aware of that."

"I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning and you're thinking about your third grade best friend?"

"Bonzo was the coolest," Zed says. "He never talked. Can't remember why but he never did. I learned sign language and it was super cool. It was awful when I had to move. I mean, I still talked to Eliza after I moved but Bonzo…we lost touch and it sucked."

Addison gives him a little pout—a very adorable pout that looks a lot like the look Annabelle gives when something bad happens for Zed and she hears him complaining to Eliza on the phone.

Zed sighs and says, "I miss Annabelle."

Addison gives him this sad and sympathetic look that makes his heart ache a little because it should be illegal to be that cute.

"Is there really no way you could convince Eliza to give you back Annabelle?" Addison asks.

"She says she's been deprived six years of Annabelle-time," Zed explains. "It's so unfair."

"Well, at least you have me," Addison offers with a smile and, well, fuck. She's insanely cute. His heart might actually explode.

"Can I ask you something?"

She sounds serious, which is a little frightening. Zed nods and drops rocking back and forth in her desk chair.

Addison takes a deep breath, casts her gaze down and asks, "Where's Annabelle's Mom?"

Zed doesn't know what he's expecting but it's certainly not that. He's pretty sure he's told a vague encounter of the story already, then remembers that Addison wasn't in the meeting he'd had with the principal. Guilt flashed through him because it's been two whole days since they've been friends—they went out for dinner last night for Pete's sake—and he hasn't once mentioned Liz to her.

"She died," Zed says, "when Annabelle was born."

Addison looks up and her face is completely crushed. "Oh," she says, crestfallen. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Zed waves her off. "Addison, it was six years ago, it's fine." It wasn't, really, but he didn't want her to feel bad about asking. "It was, um, brain cancer."

He can't bring himself to look at Addison. The room is silent though and they're the only ones there, so her slight intake of breath doesn't go unnoticed at all.

"Liz was seven months pregnant when they found it," he continues. "It was so bad, I just—she wanted them to save Annabelle. They did a C-section and Annabelle spent months in the NICU. And Liz, she barely made it through the procedure. She was in a medically induced coma at first. And then she was brain dead."

He takes in a shaky breath; he's crying, and it's awful. Everyone in his life had known about Liz and what happened to her and it took a year for Zed to not loathe everyday and now he's thinking about it all again and everything's starting to hurt again and _fuck_.

He has to close his eyes to keep from full on sobbing and it's getting embarrassing. And suddenly Addison's in his lap and her arms are around him and she's running her fingers through his hair both affectionately and comfortingly.

She doesn't say anything and Zed doesn't know if that's better or worse. He can't help himself from continuing though. "I'm fine Addison this isn't something new I just-it hurts a little."

Addison holds him tenderly by the jaw, lifting his face to look her in the eyes. "Zed, you don't have to be strong in front of me," Addison tells him sincerely. "You don't have to pretend you're fine or that you aren't hurting because you are and it's okay to be hurting."

Zed breaks.

It's impossible to hold back the tears anymore. He drops his head to her shoulder and starts sobbing. He doesn't care about being embarrassed or this being weird considering they've known each other for two days.

The love of his life died six years ago and Zed's been missing her ever since and it's been so much worse since he moved. And his dad and sister are four hours away and Eliza got his baby and he's just _so alone_.

Addison's still rubbing his hair and now she's whispering soft words to him and it's the most heartwarming, gentle, and loving things that's happened to him in years.

By the times he's stopped sobbing and has been reduced to a mess of hiccups and wet cheeks, he realizes he's falling hard for Addison. And he doesn't care anymore.

She lifts his head again and swipes his wet cheeks with the pads of her thumbs, giving him a soft smile. "Feel better?"

"Yeah," he says in a choked up voice.

"I'm sorry for making you relive that," she apologizes.

"I actually feel a lot better," he admits. "I-It's so hard. Moving. And I'm so alone all the time. And…"

He trails off and Addison nods. "I understand what you mean," she says gently. "But you're not alone. You've got me now. I'm always right across the street if you need me."

Zed smiles. He's not thinking about his last girlfriend anymore or how weak she was as she lay dying or how much he misses her all the time.

All he can think of right now is Addison and how much he's in love with her.

* * *

They leave after that, even though Zed isn't technically allowed home for another twenty minutes. It's barely a five minute drive from school to their houses, and they each park in their separate driveways. Addison crosses the street and jogs up to him as he gets out of his car.

"Have you eaten yet?" she asks.

Zed shakes his head. "No but," he feels a little bad about having to reject her potential offer of dinner, "I made dinner before I left. It's waiting in the oven."

Addison doesn't look disappointed in the slightest. "Mind if I join? My cousin, who cooks, had a date tonight." She rolls her eyes. "Which I didn't find out about until now which is great."

"Of course you can join," Zed says.

Addison smiles brightly, following Zed up the steps into his house. "Sorry about the mess," he apologizes as he unlocks the door. "It's…hectic. Annabelle _hates_ unpacking and your homework doesn't really keep her occupied and out of the way."

Addison chuckles. "You make it sound like its my fault."

"It one hundred percent is."

Addison laughs and Zed pushes the door open. He flicks on the light at the entrance hall. He toed off his shoes and tells Addison to do the same. He leads her to the kitchen, stepping over boxes here and there and turning on lights as he went.

"This is a nice place," she comments.

Zed just smiles at her. He goes and turns on the oven, turns his back and leans against the counter. "It should take a minute to heat up," he says.

"What is it?" Addison asks.

"Lasagna."

"Sounds delicious," she hums. She looks around the kitchen slowly. "If you want, I can help you do some more unpacking. While Annabelle is still gone and while we wait for the food."

"Oh you don't have to—"

"Are you kidding? I want an excuse to snoop around."

She smiles cheekily and Zed can't help but laugh. She's so adorable.

"You could just ask to go through my stuff."

"That may be a tad bit unethical, not sure." Addison shrugs.

Zed laughs and pushes off the counter. He walks her to the living room, sits down on the floor, and pulls a box toward him. Addison sits down next to him, really _really_ close. They're touching at the arms and thighs and it's a little overwhelming.

"This is the box with all of our pictures and…family memorabilia," Zed explains. "I'm saving it for last, after I finish unpacking everything so I know where to put them."

He peels the tape off and opens it. Addison leans over and pulls out the first picture frame which happens to be a picture of Zed and Annabelle from her second birthday. They've both got cake all over their faces and Annabelle is mid-excited scream while Zed is laughing. Zoey had taken the picture while neither of them were paying attention.

"Aw!" Addison gushes. "This is so cute!"

"Annabelle's baby pictures are pretty cute."

"I'm not only talking about Annabelle," she says with sly smile.

Zed blushes and clears his throat, pulling out another picture frame and putting it over the one in her hands. When he looks, it's a picture from Christmas when Annabelle was four. Her and Zed are in matching pajamas. Annabelle is sitting in Zed lap and there's a giant stack of waffles in front of them. They're both smiling wide at the camera and Zed's heart melts a little at the memory.

Addison gasps and gushes, "Aw!"

Zed chuckles. "I know, she's cute."

"You're both cute," Addison says. "You're wearing matching pajamas! That's so cute!"

Zed laughs and ducks his head down. "This is from Christmas but we don't even celebrate Christmas," Zed explains. "I'm Jewish, on my mom's side. And we grew up doing Hanukkah, and doing fake Christmas."

Addison chuckles. "Fake Christmas?"

"Put up a tree and decorate and get presents but, we're not Christian." Zed shrugs.

"Neither am I," Addison adds, "Christmas isn't even a religious holiday anymore."

Zed shrugs and pulls out another picture frame. He looks at it as he hands it to Addison; this one is a picture of him and Liz when they were graduating from college. Zed rememberers this day clearly, because it was the same day Liz told him that she was pregnant.

Addison noticed Zed's wistfully smile and gives him a questioning look. "That was the day Liz told me she was pregnant," he explains. "The picture was taken like, seconds after."

"I can tell," Addison says, "look how excited you are."

"It was such a perfect day," he says happily. "We had an apartment already and we had plans to move out of the city once she finished grad school."

"Grad school?"

"She wanted a masters in engineering," Zed explains. "She was so smart too. When we found out she was pregnant, she planned to start grad school the next year, since Liz was due in January so she figured she'd just wait until the next fall semester to enroll."

"Oh."

Zed nods somberly. He doesn't say anything else on the subject and pulls out another picture frame. This one is of Liz holding a newborn Annabelle for the few minutes the hospital staff had allowed. Zed had been kicked out of the room by that point, so one of the nurses had snapped the picture for him.

"Oh my god," Addison breathes out. "I—Is that Annabelle?"

Zed nods. "She's so small," Addison whispers, shocked.

"She _was_ born two months early," Zed points out.

"Zed."

"Addy, I know she was small," Zed says, "I told you she was premature, but I understand that it's one thing to know and one thing to see."

Addison nods slowly. She looks at Zed and says, "When I see you and Annabelle, I always wondered why she was so…small. And you were like, gigantic. I mean, genetically, she should be pretty tall as your daughter. And now I know."

Zed gives her a small smile. He pulls out another picture which happens to be another one of Liz and Zed from their first date: they're at a carnival and it's a blown up selfie Liz has taken while they were on the Ferris wheel with the giant bunny Zed had won for her.

"How old were you?"

"Nineteen."

Addison smiles at him and pinches his cheek. "You were cute ten years ago," she says, "and you're even cuter now."

Zed laughs and ducks his head down to avoid looking at her. It's clear she's flirting with him but he's not sure if she's just messing with him or if she's being serious.

"You're pretty cute too," he says.

Addison just smiles at him. Her hand moved from pinching his cheek to cradling his jaw. It's intense and Zed can feel the tension in the air. He feels the urge to kiss her growing in his chest and he leans in a little. He pauses, looking from her eyes to her lips. Her smile fades and her face shifts from subtle amusement to—he doesn't know what it is.

Then Addison is leaning in and Zed's heart starts pounding in his chest. He leans in too. Addison's eyes flutter closed and Zed closes his own eyes and—they both jump apart at the sound of the oven timer ringing loudly.

Addison lets out a forced, awkward laugh. "Is that dinner? I'm starving."

"Uh, yeah," Zed says. He stands up and adds, "Just drop those pictures back in the box. I'll take out the food."

He goes into the kitchen and takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. He is _so _fucked.

—_Addison_—

For the rest of the week, Addison only sees Zed in passing. She understands, of course. He's unpacking and taking care of his daughter and his job is going to start soon, so she only sees him at drop-off and pick-up and occasionally when she gets home.

Plus, things between them got really weird really fast.

They went from talking about his dead girlfriend to nearly kissing over pictures of said dead girlfriend. Thinking about it that way made it sound a lot weirder than it actually was. At least that's what Bree says when she tells her over dinner on Wednesday. Of course, after she explained everything Bree thought it was "so cute!"

"It's not cute it's…it's weird!" Addison complains. "I'm Annabelle's teacher. I can't have feelings for her dad!"

"You do realize that I'm _married_ to Matt's art teacher."

"That's different! You guys were married _before_ Matt was born!" Addison exclaims, frustrated. "And Bonzo's an art teacher! He only teachers Matt for an hour twice a week. I have Annabelle everyday."

"And I'm sure there are plenty of other teachers in relationships with their students' parents," Bree sympathizes.

Addison purses her lips. Bree has a point: the third grade teacher taught her own son two years before. "It doesn't matter because Zed doesn't want a relationship now," Addison says, "and I already rejected him! I literally gave him a list of hot single moms from the school."

"I still don't get why you'd do something like that," Bree says.

Addison sighs and puts her head down. Bree reaches across the table and puts a hand on Addison's arm. "Addy," she says gently, "based on everything you've told me, I'm _sure_ he likes you too. You just have to be patient."

Addison just makes a disgruntled noise and lifts her head up. "Let's talk about something else," she suggests. "This is just…ruining me."

Bree smiles sympathetically. "We're buying Matt his first real bike for his birthday tomorrow."

Addison raises her eyebrows with fake interest. "Really?"

Bree nods and launches into the reasoning as to why they've decided to upgrade Matt's bike. Addison isn't really listening, nodding along and eating her dinner.

Bree's a few details into the story when she gets a text from Bonzo saying that he's on his way back with Matt from Bonzo's mom's house, which means that Bree has to go to beat them home. She's already ordered some food for Bonzo and Matt so they pay the check and go their separate ways.

* * *

When Addison sees Zed on Friday, it's because she'd sent him an email asking for Annabelle to stay after school for an hour. Annabelle has to do a test all the other kids had done during the first week of school that will tell Addison her current reading level, which she was supposed to do the week before when Zed was supposed to first meet with Addison and the principal. And because Addison couldn't go to the meeting she couldn't administer the test.

Addison just needs Annabelle for an hour, which is what she tells Zed and what he agrees to. Still, he comes in a little before three while Annabelle is sitting at the computer in the back of the room. Addison gives him a questioning look and he smiles apologetically.

"Mind if I come in?" he asks.

Addison stands up, giving Annabelle a quick glance before walking over to him. When she's in front of him, she says, "Depends. Do you wanna have a conversation or you just wanna hang out? Either way you can't be in the room while she's testing so…"

"I wanted to ask how her first week went," Zed says and Addison nods for them to step outside. They go out into the hall and she keeps the door open a crack so she can look in on Annabelle.

"Annabelle is crazy smart," Addison says. "She caught on to the flow of things by Tuesday. Plus, some of the kids have been helping her out when she needs it. A lot of first graders don't wanna admit they're wrong or ask for help but she always asks questions and answers problems. She's just great."

Zed smiles in relief. "Every time I ask how school is she just shrugs and says it's good," he explains.

"I'm always here to put parents at ease," Addison reassures him. Zed just smiles and Addison rocks a little on her feet, unsure if she should take the more personal route on the conversation. '_What the hell_' she decides.

"I haven't seen you around much these last few days," she says.

"My sister is in town and she's forcing me to finish unpacking by…today," Zed explains.

"Did you not know she was visiting?"

"Not at all. I didn't even know she had my address. But Annabelle loves having her aunt here. It's nice."

Addison laughs and gives him an inquisitive look. Zed explains, "Eliza gave it to her because all the women in my life are plotting against me."

Addison gives him a mocking pout. "You poor baby."

Zed narrows his eyes at her. "Your sarcasm is not appreciated."

Addison just laughs. "Is this it? I have to get back in there to keep an eye on Annabelle."

"Yeah but…" Zed trails off, looking to the ground. Addison raised an eyebrow and he looks back at her, this time looking more hopeful. "Um, do you want to come over for dinner? I've finally finished making the house livable so it's not a mess of boxes. Okay so there's still some unpacking to do but it's not bad."

Addison giggles and asks, "What're you cooking?"

"We're making pizzas," he says.

"Sounds fun," Addison responds, "what time should I come over?"

Zed's smile widens and Addison can't help but giggle. He's so cute when he's excited. "Is five okay? I know it's a little early but if you wanna help make pizzas that's when we would start."

"Okay I'll be there at five," Addison says. "To hang out and make pizza."

"And, obviously, watch the best movies in existence," Zed says, then adds, "that are also rated G because Annabelle is six."

Addison gasps excitedly. "I have a collective of Disney movies in my basement. DVD and VHS. And I have other movies but those aren't for kids."

Zed bursts into laughter. "VHS? Really?"

Addison giggles and nods. "I was a cool kid, I'll admit to that."

"Sure," he says sarcastically.

Addison laughs and shakes her head. "Only the cool kids had the first two High School Musicals on DVD _and_ VHS."

"You're so lame, Addy."

There was that nickname again. She can't even remember the first time he called her that but it's so endearing and domestic and _cute_. The only person who calls her Addy is Bree and it's because one of her stupid ex-boyfriends had called her Addy. Bree called her it in a joking way and now Zed was using it in an enduring way and it's completely erasing the bad memory of fucking Jared Kleinsdale.

"I-I gotta get back inside," Addison says, standing a little in the doorway.

"Okay. I'll be back in…at three."

Addison smiles,holds up five fingers to tell him it's in five minutes, and goes back into her classroom. Annabelle is still at the computer except now she's facing the door. Addison frowns and crosses the room. "Do you need any help?" Addison asks.

"Was that my daddy?" Annabelle asks, completely ignoring Addison's question.

"It was," Addison says. "Did you finish?"

"No," Annabelle says slowly. She's twiddling her fingers like she wants to say something but can't put it into words.

"Is there something you wanna ask me?" Addison asks.

"Um," Annabelle says. "Do you like my daddy? Like like him?"

Addison doesn't know what to say, honestly. She stammers but nothing comes out. Finally, when she doesn't know what else to say, she tells Annabelle, "Just finish your test."

"Okay," Annabelle agrees. "But I think my Daddy likes you. He never visited Ms. Johnson this much. Or Ms. McD."

"He's just really nice, just like you," Addison says. "Now finish so we can both go home."

* * *

Bucky's got another date with a different guy who Addison suspects is just a hot piece of ass Bucky wants in bed. Whatever, it's his life. He's young and attractive still and he's still working out so he can do whatever he wants. Bree's busy with her family, as expected. Bonzo and Bree have been teaching Matt how to ride his new bike which is a task in itself.

Addison social circle consists of those three people and Zed, so she's left to get ready to 'hang out' with Zed by herself. She owns one pair of jeans because all her work clothes are slacks or dress pants or skirts and she only needs jeans for the rare field trip.

But they're nice jeans. They're skinny and make her butt look great. One of her stupid ex-boyfriends—actually a lot of them—had always pointed out that she had a nice ass but they were teenage boys who just wanted one thing so she never believed them then. Now though—especially with the one pair of jeans she owns—she believes it.

She gets a white tee shirt and puts on some sandals and calls it a look. Bucky would probably disapprove but she doesn't care what Bucky thinks at this point; her and Zed are just friends despite all the flirting and the fact that she's obviously smitten with him.

She packs a bunch of movies ranging from old Disney-Pixar movies to actual Disney channel original movies, then heads across the street feeling more than a little giddy.

Zed opens the door and he's covered from head to toe in flour. Addison burst into laughter and Zed laughs with her because it's pretty funny.

Then Annabelle comes running and attaches herself against Zed's leg. She's also covered in flour and what Addison assumes is pizza sauce, and smiles widely at the sight of Addison.

"Are you here for pizza night Ms. Davis?"

"Yeah but—" Addison takes a second to catch her breath and asks, "what happened here?"

"_Someone_ doesn't know how to open a bag of flour," Zed says pointedly. He goes ahead and picks up Annabelle, moving to the side and gesturing for Addison to come inside. "And now she needs another bath."

Addison giggles and walks inside; Zed leads her to the messy kitchen. "Make yourself at home," Zed says. "I need to change."

Annabelle giggles as Zed walks with her down the hall. Addison looks around the kitchen and decides to give Zed a hand and start cleaning up. Fortunately, there's a broom in the corner so she goes ahead and starts sweeping the floor.

She finishes cleaning at the same time that Zed and Annabelle return, in clean clothes and semi-clean skin. They both have the same dark hair which is still powdered white but it looks like they did their best to clean up.

"Aw Addy, you didn't have to clean up," Zed says.

Annabelle looks between father and Addison with a confused look. Addison ignores it and says, "It's the least I could do."

Zed smiles. "Well thank you," he says. "Luckily we have extra flour, otherwise pizza night would have been ruined."

Annabelle just smiles and skips over to the kitchen table. She climbs up onto a chair and waits patiently while Zed goes over to the cupboards, pulling out a few more ingredients and laying them out on the counter.

"First we need to make the pizza dough," Zed says. He turns to look at Annabelle and adds, "Which you can't help with anymore Belle."

Annabelle gives him a pout. Addison moved over to Zed who starts showing her the pizza dough making process. After they make dough, Annabelle joins them at the counter with a stepping stool so she can actually see over the counter and help. The whole making of pizza is incredibly domestic and Addison feels like she's a part of their small family. Like she can see herself someday being apart of the Necrodopolus family. Addison Necrodopolus.

And then she realized it's been a week since she's known Zed and she's thinking about marrying him already. And being Annabelle's stepmom and being a good and caring stepmom and maybe even having her own Necrodopolus baby and—

"Can I use your bathroom?" Addison asks. She needs to get away and clear her head and stop thinking of being Mrs. Necrodopolus.

"Down the hall on the left," Zed says.

Addison turns and leaves, trying to get to the bathroom quickly without making it obvious that she needs to get out of there. She's pretty sure she fails and Zed is concerned but she has other things to worry about.

She closes the door and flicks the lock closed, then stands in front of the mirror. '_Pull yourself together_,' she thinks. '_Zed is just a guy. You aren't gonna marry him. You _aren't _dating him!_'

Another voice comes in and says, '_But he's also really cute and he's such a good guy and a good dad. Plus I bet Annabelle would benefit from having a female figure in her life._'

But even if she wants to date him, it's frowned upon in her teaching contract which is code for 'don't do it.'

'_Then date him on the low,_' the voice says.

Even if it were possible to date him secretly, Zed doesn't want a relationship. He wants to focus on getting settled into Seabrook.

'_That can take years. Are you willing to wait that long?_'

"I'll wait as long as I have to." She doesn't expect herself to say it or for it to be so true. She's willing to wait however long Zed needs and, well, it's the first time that's ever happened.

She's had lots of relationships before. But they were just casual, nothing serious and nothing that's ever made her feel the way she feels about Zed. Except she's not dating Zed.

But the point still stands. She's known Zed for a week and she's…fuck she doesn't want to admit it but…she's in love with him.

Addison takes a deep breath. She just has to get through the school year. That's it.

—_Zed_—

Pizza night goes great. Having Addison in his home just feels right. They eat and then watch one of Addison's movies before Annabelle's bedtime hits. To his surprise, Addison waits patiently while Annabelle gets her bath and ready for bed and Zed tucks her in for the night. She actually does some house work (she cleans the dishes from dinner).

"You didn't have to do that," he tells her.

"I don't mind."

"Um, is your cousin gonna be upset because you aren't home yet?" Zed asks.

"He's out with some guy tonight 'cause he wants di—" Addison stops herself before she finishes her sentence, but Zed knows what she's gonna say.

"You should really try the 'most creative alternative' method because you could benefit a lot from it," he suggests. "My Princess is trying to sleep."

Addison smiles. "Sorry. Wanna watch another movie? Bucky won't be home until tomorrow morning so you don't have to worry about me leaving late. Plus I live across the street so it's not necessarily dangerous."

"Depends what you've got."

Addison pops in another movie but because Zed is a dad and Addison is a teacher, they both knockout halfway through _Tangled_.

Zed wakes up when the menu screen is on and when he looks at the clock it reads _11:01_–almost two hours after they started the movie. Addison's got her head on his shoulder and she's sleeping soundly. Zed knows he's gonna have to wake her up but she looks so freaking cute and peaceful, sleeping on him and it's so domestic and he just loves it.

But Zed has to get up and be in his bed for the inevitable visit from Annabelle. She's gonna get scared and wanna sleep in his bed and who is he to tell her no?

There's the guest room that Zoey forced him to set up earlier that week. It's actually meant for Eliza when she visits but there's a bed there already set up and a woman on his couch who's only other option is to sleep at her house alone.

Zed managed to get her off of his shoulder and stand up. He stretches a little, then slips one arm under Addison's knees and one behind her back. She's surprisingly light and he carries her down the hall to the guest bedroom, gently laying her in the bed. Addison stirs a little but ultimately snuggles into the bed and Zed can't help but smile, throwing a blanket over her before creeping out and heading to his own room.

Annabelle is already in his bed. She's sleeping even when he turned on the light so Zed just changes into his pajamas and crawls into bed.

When he wakes up, Annabelle is gone. He yawns and stretches; there's a strong scent of coffee filling the house. He panics for a second because the only other person in the house is Annabelle and the thought of her using the coffee machine is horrifying.

He rushes out and to the kitchen, only to find Annabelle sitting at the kitchen table and Addison at the stove. He furrows his brows in confusion. It takes a minute for him to remember that Addison must have spent the night because she fell asleep during _Tangled_.

Annabelle looks at him and beams. "G'morning Daddy," she says excitedly. "Ms. Davis is making breakfast."

Addison turns and smiles at him. "I woke up and was gonna slip out but Annabelle said she was hungry so…I hope you don't mind."

"Uh, no, I don't," Zed says. "Are you making coffee?"

"Yep," Addison says. "And eggs and bacon."

Zed nods and goes ahead to pour himself a cup of coffee. He goes and sits next to Annabelle, seeing her with a rather smug look.

"What?" he asks, amused.

"Nothing." Annabelle is way too smart for six years old. She's got this look on her face that says she knows everything that's going on and it's frightening, really.

Addison served up breakfast and sits at the only other chair at the table. Annabelle grabs orange juice from the fridge and Zed pours it out of fear of Annabelle spilling the juice.

Breakfast is even better than Pizza Night. Different people come over all the time for Pizza Night but everyone pretty much leaves at the end of the night. And now Addison is there in the morning and they're all eating breakfast together and it's just absolutely perfect.

Zed wants to marry her. Which is completely irrational because he has to date her first and he can't do that without consulting Annabelle first because Annabelle is his world and he can't try to bring another woman in his life without talking to his princess about it.

Addison leaves after breakfast. Annabelle gets her bath, then Zed sets her up in the living room with a coloring book and Disney Junior before hopping in the shower.

It ends up being a lazy Saturday. Zed had finished unpacking most of the boxes when his sister visited during the week. He won't start work until Monday, though his schedule does allow him twenty hours of at-home work per week. But he doesn't really want to start work.

Annabelle is completely occupied with Disney Junior and her new coloring book (a gift from her favorite aunt) so Zed _could_ do work. But it's a Saturday and he _really _doesn't want to.

Luckily Eliza shows up a little past noon with lunch so he doesn't have to worry about working or being bored. After lunch, Annabelle switched from her coloring book to her remote control monster truck which Zed absolutely hates. She's a horrible driver, really. She always crashes her truck against his ankles and makes dents in walls and Zed knows that she knows what she's doing and is doing it for fun.

When she pulls out the truck, Zed sits cross-legged on the couch with Eliza. Annabelle sits on the floor with the television on low volume, driving the truck around the living room like a madman.

"How was pizza night last night?" Eliza asks. "Sorry I couldn't come."

"Daddy invited Ms. Davis over and she stayed all night," Annabelle chimes from the floor. "And we had breakfast together. And Daddy keeps smiling at her all happy."

Eliza looks from Annabelle to Zed with a raised eyebrow. "Oh?"

Zed rolls his eyes. "Addison and I are friends," he explains, "and friends hang out. I hang out with you all the time."

"I'm a lesbian," Eliza states. "There's a difference when you hang out with me because I have no romantic interest in you."

"Daddy's basically in love with Ms. Davis," Annabelle says.

Zed shoots her a strong glare that goes completely over her head. He looks back at Eliza, who's got a questioning look on her face. She's gonna start probing him for answers he doesn't have because yes it's true he's in love with Addison and yes he's only known her for a week and that may be too short to already be in love but he doesn't care because it's Addison and she's lovely and beautiful and amazing.

"So Ms. Davis?" Eliza asks.

"Addison," Zed says.

"Oh? First name basis?"

"She is my neighbor so." Zed shrugs.

Eliza nods slowly. "And you're in love with her?" she asks.

Zed shrugs again. "To be determined."

Eliza blinks at him like she knew he'd say something like that and was still surprised.

"Eliza," Zed says, "Addison is nice and all but she's Annabelle's teacher. And she'll be Annabelle's teacher until June."

"So in June you'll finally admit that you fell in love with this woman after knowing her for a week?" Eliza asks.

Zed just shrugs because that statement is false. He fell in love with Addison within twenty-four hours.

In need of a topic change, Zed turns to Annabelle and asks, "Hey Belle, have you told Auntie E about all the friends you made this week?"

Annabelle stops her truck right before it's about to crash into the leg of the coffee table and gasps, looking up at the adults on the sofa. She hastily gets up and jumps up onto the couch in between her dad and her aunt, facing Eliza. Eliza mouths to Zed 'This isn't over' before Annabelle launches into a tirade about her new friends and every little detail about them.

Zed leaves the living room while Annabelle is preoccupied with Eliza and goes to get started on dinner. It's only one in the afternoon but he's gotta clean the chicken and let it soak in the sauces so it actually tastes good. It'll only take a few hours, anyway.

Eliza stays all day. They hang out and watch preseason NHL. New York had three NHL teams but Zed wasn't a big fan of any of them. He liked the New Hampshire Zombies instead of the big and popular teams. And Annabelle grew up on hockey from the sheer fact that Liz played on the women's team in college and Annabelle was infatuated with anything Liz. It's the only sport Annabelle shows any interest in at least.

They eat dinner in the living room and a short while after dinner, Zed puts Annabelle to bed in the hopes that she'll stay the entire night in her room.

"Now that Annabelle's asleep, I think we should talk about this girl," Eliza says.

"Addison?"

Eliza nods.

Zed raises an eyebrow and asks, "You wanna continue a conversation from, like, eight hours ago?"

"I didn't think you'd tell me the whole truth with Annabelle around," she admits. She sits on the couch and pats the spot next to her. Zed gives her a skeptical look but takes the seat beside her.

"So you're dating Addison."

"No," Zed says. "I can't. She's contractually obligated to _not_ date her students parents."

"But you wanna date her?"

"Yes."

Eliza nods. "Is she nice?" she asks.

"She's perfect," Zed says honestly. "I…"

Eliza raises an eyebrow and asks, "You think you're in love with her?"

"Uh, yeah," he says. "Are you mad at me?"

Eliza scoffs. "You shouldn't care what I think."

"You're my best friend, of course I care what you think," he says. "So what do you think?"

"I mean I haven't met her," Eliza says, "but Annabelle seems to like her. And Belle is a great judge of character."

"Annabelle is also six," Zed states. "The only thing she knows about romance is what she learns from movies."

"That's true your love life is pathetically sad."

Zed gives her a pout. Eliza laughs and pats his knee. "Sorry but it's true," she says. "Liz would want you to find love. She'd actually be pretty peeved if she knew it took you almost seven years to find love again."

"I wasn't trying to find love," he defends. "I was fine with just me and Annabelle. Annabelle gets all my love anyway. No woman will ever change how much I love Annabelle."

Eliza hums. "Does she like Annabelle?"

The one question prompts Zed to think about the night before, how Addison looked so right in their house and cooking with them and cleaning up the little messes Annabelle would make and even wiping stray pizza sauce off of Annabelle (and Zed's) face.

"It was so weird," he says. "When she was here—last night and this morning—it just felt so right. Like she was supposed to be here and be, like, a part of the family." Eliza makes a stunned face and Zed winces a little. That probably sounds extreme. "Does that make me sound weird? That sounds weird doesn't it?"

"Sounds a little weird."

Zed sighs and leans back against the couch. "There's nothing I can do anyway, because she won't date me," he says glumly. "She's even got together a list of hot single moms from the school."

Eliza winced and Zed knows what she's thinking: there's no way that Addison is into him.

Instead, Eliza thinks for a minute then says, "I would say she doesn't like you, but she went out with you on Monday, and she still wanted to hang out after you told her all your awful baggage. And she came over last night, helped you take care of your daughter, and made you breakfast this morning. I think she's just as conflicted as you."

"That's not helpful at all," Zed says. "I need to know what to do."

Eliza shrugs unhelpfully. Zed sighs again. He doesn't know what he expected, really. Eliza's not really the romantic-type, that's Zed's job. He's the one who falls head-over-heels for a girl while Eliza likes to take a nice, slow approach to girls and wait several months to years before they ask her out.

Zed thinks back on the week, trying to think of what else he can talk to Eliza about. "Annabelle's art teacher is Bonzo Izaki," Zed says, "my best friend from third grade."

"I was your best friend in third grade," Eliza reminds him. "And yeah, I know. Unlike you, I didn't move to New York in elementary school and actually kept my friends."

Zed scoffs because she one hundred percent only had two friends: him and Bonzo. And then just him when she went to college in New York, with him. And then it became just him and Liz. And now it's just him again.

"He has a son in Annabelle's class," Zed goes on. "And his wife is Addison's best friend. And his son is becoming one of Annabelle's best friends."

"Huh," Eliza nods, "what a small world."

Zed nods in agreement. He lets out a yawn and rubs his eyes. It's not necessarily late but he's already tired, despite not really doing anything all day. Eliza yawns too and Zed decides it's time to either kick her out or tell her to go sleep in the guest room so they can both get some sleep.

"You gonna stay here or go home?"

"I'll go home," Eliza decides. She gets up and Zed follows, walking her to the door. They say goodnight at the door, then Zed goes to his room and gets ready for bed.

Before he can crawl into bed, Annabelle creeps into his room with her bunny in her arms. "Daddy, can I sleep in your bed please?" She doesn't even sound like she was sleeping before and honestly, he's not surprised.

"Belle, what's wrong with your bed and your room?" Zed asks, a little exhausted.

She shuffles her feet and crosses the room, climbing in his bed. "It's scary in there," she says, "and dark and-and I don't wanna be alone."

Zed sighs because she looks genuinely scared and he doesn't know what to do in situations like this. Annabelle tends to be pretty fearless, even for six. The only time Zed has seen her afraid was when she was watching _The Princess and The Frog_ and all the voodoo is happening, but that was just a movie.

He sits on the bed and wraps his arms around her, pulling her in close. "Belle, nothing bad will happen to you," he assures her. "There's nothing to be scared of. There aren't any monsters or bad guys or anything. And if anything bad _does_ happen, which it won't, you know that Daddy and Thumper will keep you safe."

Annabelle is quiet for a moment, like she's thinking over what Zed says. Finally, she looks up at him and asks, "Can I still sleep with you?"

Zed sighs and nods. "Okay, But tomorrow you're gonna try and spend the whole night in your own bed."

Annabelle's already crawling to the pillows, nodding along without really listening. Zed just sighs and crawls into bed too.

(It only takes another week for Annabelle to spend the whole night in her own bed and break the habit)

—_Addison_—

Annabelle's birthday was on a Friday in early November. Zed had told Addison a week in advance that they were going to New York for the event so Annabelle could spend it with her family. New York was where Zed's father and sister were, as well as Annabelle's grandparents from Liz's side. Addison understood, and kindly drove them to the airport on Thursday afternoon.

The weekend was pretty bland aside from grading papers. Bucky was home all weekend because of an ankle sprain that kept him from going and teaching weekend dance classes.

Zed had told Addison they wouldn't be back until late Sunday and she wouldn't _have_ to pick them up (she insisted, of course). She's only waiting for ten minutes before she spots them coming out of the airport. She pops the trunk open for them and waits until Zed has climbed into the backseat of her car with Annabelle. It's a little weird, considering when she first drove them Zed sat up front with her. Unimportant.

"Hey," she greets as she pulls out. She glances at Zed through the rear view mirror, seeing him looking a lot worse for wear.

"Can you take us to the hospital?" Zed asks. "She got really sick on Friday and I gave her some medicine because it's flu season and she had flu symptoms but she's burning up now and she's sweating a lot and she nearly passed out today and—"

"Woah," Addison cuts him off, "Zed, leave the explaining for the doctor."

He lets out a sigh of relief and sits back against the seat. "I-I'm sorry," he says. "It's been a long weekend."

Addison hums. "Did you have fun at least? With your family?"

"Uh, yeah," Zed says. "We went to the Met and Annabelle loved it. The ancient history ones were cool too. I may have promised her you'd tell her all about mythologies over the years."

Addison giggles and glances at him. He's sitting behind the passenger seat and Annabelle is in the middle, knocked out. She does look pretty awful—and she's asleep. Addison can't imagine what she looks like when she's awake and in actual pain.

"I can talk about mythologies for days," she says. "History of vampires? Werewolves? Zombies? I got you. I can teach you to read hieroglyphs too if you want."

"You can read hieroglyphs?"

"You can't?" Addison teases. Zed lets out a small laugh and she feels accomplished.

"Did you do anything else?" Addison asks.

"Annabelle vomited her birthday cake, so no," he answers. He sighs sadly and when Addison looks at him in the rear view mirror again, he's stroking Annabelle's hair. It's the first time Addison has seen Annabelle without pigtails, which is how she knows it's something serious.

"We're almost there, don't worry," Addison assures him. "I'm sure it's nothing too serious. Probably just a bad case of the flu."

"Yeah," he agrees, unconvinced.

* * *

They spend an hour in the waiting room of the emergency room. There are a surprising amount of sick kids in for almost midnight on a Sunday. They get moved into an exam room and the nurse takes all the paperwork Zed had filled out. And then, they wait.

Addison gets the only chair in the exam room and Zed sits on the bed with Annabelle. She's still asleep, despite all the moving around and talking that's been going on right over her. Zed looks exhausted and Addison remembers that he just got off a flight and was probably looking forward to getting to sleep in his own bed. And now he was in a pediatric emergency room.

Addison stands up and goes over to him. Zed looks up at her and she says, "It could be a while before the doctor comes. You can take a quick nap if you want."

Instead of accepting her offer or even acknowledging it, he says, "You can go home if you want. You have work in the morning."

Addison frowns. "Of course I'm gonna stay. You shouldn't have to go through this alone, Zed."

"I feel like I'm just overreacting and she's fine and it's just the flu," Zed admits.

"She's your daughter, Zed," Addison says. "If you think something's wrong, something's gotta be wrong. You know her best."

Zed sighs and looks down at Annabelle. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Wanna take a quick nap?"

"I slept on the plane," he answers.

"Your plane ride was an hour long." Zed just hums and Addison sighs. "It's after midnight, Z. Either rest or let me get you coffee."

Zed gives her a cheeky smile. "Lots of creamers please."

Addison rolls her eyes but leaves the exam room. She runs into a nurse and asks if they have any coffee, and gets pointed in the direction of a dollar-coffee machine. Her wallet is in the exam room so she had to use her mobile card to buy two coffees, then heads back to Annabelle's room.

There's a physician in there and Annabelle's awake now. The physician falters when Addison comes in, then smiles at her. "You must be Mom," he greets.

Addison's eyes widen in surprise. Zed lets out a little snort when Addison starts stuttering over her denial. Annabelle's quiet, "She's not my mommy," effectively shuts Addison up and the physician just looks a little surprised.

"My mistake," he apologizes.

"It's fine," Addison assures him. "I-I'm just their neighbor."

"Ms. Davis is my teacher," Annabelle mutters. "She lives across the street."

It's obvious that the physician doesn't know what to do with the information. "Well, I'm Dr. Idguardo," he introduces. "I was just telling Mr. Necrodopolus that we're gonna draw some blood and send it up for lab tests and get her an IV for the fever."

Addison nods. She goes and gives Zed his coffee while Dr. Idguardo leaves and comes back a minute later with a case. He sets it down on the bed and opens it and Addison looks and sees vials and needles.

Annabelle sees them too and gets nervous, fidgeting on the bed. Zed moves to her instantly and she latches onto his arm in fear.

"It's gonna be a quick little shot Belle," Zed says gently, rubbing her back. "Just a little poke. He wants to make you feel better."

Addison can't hear what Annabelle is saying but the little girl looks like she's gonna cry. And Addison can't just stand there while her favorite student/neighbor has to get blood drawn and is gonna cry at the sight of needles. She's human.

Addison goes over and crouches down. Annabelle looks at her with hopeful but sad eyes and Addison's heart breaks at the sight. Still, she puts on a small smile and says, "You know what always got me through shots?"

Annabelle shakes her head and slowly sits back against the bed. It's like she's putting her complete trust in Addison. No pressure.

"Try singing your ABC's backwards," Addison suggests.

Annabelle looks at her skeptically. Out of the corner of her eye, Addison can see the realization on Dr. Idguardo's face and him start to prep a needle.

Annabelle sniffs and tilts her head in confusion. "Backwards?" she asks.

Addison nods. "Yeah. I'll help you say them backwards while your daddy and Dr. Idguardo focus on blood work."

Annabelle looks a little skeptical but ultimately nods in agreement. Before they start, Zed pulls Annabelle's sweatshirt over her head so they could get to her arm. Annabelle starts, focused completely on figuring out the new order and barely noticing the needle being inserted in her arm. Addison makes sure to keep the little girl's focus on her while they draw blood.

The physician gave Annabelle a high five when he finished and sent her blood off to the lab with a passing nurse. He and Zed go out in the hallway to discuss and Addison sits next to Annabelle.

"I'm really proud of you," she says. "You didn't even cry. I still cry when I get shots?"

"Really?"

Addison nods. "Needles hurt a lot," she explains. "I bet you feel really tired right now. And hungry."

Annabelle thinks and nods. Addison grins and slides off the bed, going for her purse. "I've got granola bars and some Cuties. Take your pick."

"May I have a Cutie?"

Addison rifles one out of her bag and hands it to Annabelle. Annabelle smiles happily and starts peeling the mandarin. Zed comes back into the exam room and stops, looking at his daughter and Addison in confusion. "Where'd you get an orange?" he asks Annabelle.

"Ms. Davis."

Zed looks at Addison with a raised eyebrow. "I have purse snacks," she says, giving an innocent shrug.

"Do you have anything better than this garbage coffee?" Zed asks.

"Just granola bars and kid-friendly oranges," Addison says.

Zed hums and goes to sit next to Annabelle. He wraps an arm around her and asks, "How you feeling Belle?"

"Tired," Annabelle mumbles. "Hot. Cold. Tired."

"Finish your snack and try to get more sleep," Zed tells her.

Annabelle nods and leans back against the bed. Zed looks at Addison and gives her a sad smile. He mouths a thank you to her and she just pats his knee affectionately.

—_Zed_—

A little after six in the morning, Dr. Idguardo comes and tells Zed they're taking Annabelle for a bone marrow test, which sounds a lot more serious than the flu. It wasn't long and they were back in the exam room in no time. Annabelle is back asleep and Addison manages to doze off in the chair of the room.

Zed's been texting Eliza since Addison fell asleep. She had asked him to let her know when they landed, which he never did, and now she was comforting him from afar. She had gone to New York a little before them mostly for Annabelle's birthday, but the trip had turned into a work retreat and now she was there until the end of the week.

He's in the middle of typing out a response when Dr. Idguardo pops his head in. "Mr. Necrodopolus, can I have a word with you in the hall?" he asks.

"Okay," Zed says nervously.

He gets up and walks out of the exam room, going a short distance down the hall with Dr. Idguardo. He looks solemn and Zed is nervous. It's not going to be good news, he's sure of it.

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news," Dr. Idguardo says, just like Zed predicted. "Annabelle has acute lymphocytic leukemia. It's a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow."

Zed's heart stops in his chest. He wants to vomit and cry all at once, because he's reliving his nightmare all over again. His worst fears have come to light and he might actually faint. Everything else the doctor says falls on deaf ears.

His head floods with the memories of Liz, pale and weak in a hospital bed. "_Malignant brain stem glioma._ _We have to act quickly. We'll first perform a Cesarean section to remove the baby and transport it to the NICU before we start any treatment on Miss Jansen_."

Liz died. Liz died before they could even try treating her. And now Annabelle's gonna die and he's going to lose both loves of his life. He's lost Liz and now he's losing Annabelle. He can't breathe. He's trying, but his chest is tight and all he can think of is seeing Liz laying there, pale and unconscious and unmoving and dying until she was dead and it's gonna be Annabelle next.

Zed sucks in a ragged breath, one that tears his lungs apart and hurts but he's breathing again. He can't think of losing Annabelle, he has to focus on the positive. It's not brain cancer. It's not a tumor in her head. It's just cancer in her blood. The blood that circulates all through her body, goes to every organ and cell and she could get cancer anywhere now that the cancer is in her blood.

He comes back to reality and it's like he hasn't missed a word Dr. Idguardo has said. "It's the most common cancer in children and in many cases is highly curable so I'm optimistic for a full remission from your daughter."

Those are positive words. It's curable, it's common, she can live. But it's still cancer. Annabelle has cancer just like her mom had cancer and Liz didn't survive her cancer. It hurts to breathe again. Zed's gonna lose Annabelle the same way he lost Liz.

Dr. Idguardo doesn't seem to notice the spiraling father he's talking to and continues. "But for now, we're going to admit her and move her up to the pediatrics floor where she will stay until we get her onto a course of treatment."

Zed manages a nod and Dr. Idguardo gives him a reassuring smile before walking down the hall. Zed can't bring it in himself to move. He can't go in there and look at Annabelle who's dying from cancer. It hurts too much to think about. He can't lose her, he can't. When he lost Liz, at least he still had Annabelle. Without Annabelle, without Liz, there's nothing left. He's got no one left to love or care for. He'd have lost everything—everyone.

"Zed?"

Addison's come out of the exam room and she looks so worried. He's not sure why, but he just breaks. Addison is a step away, and he collapses in her arms and starts sobbing. He can't get out any words—can barely breathe. He's spiraling, thinking about putting his baby girl to rest and having to clean out her room. What's he going to do with all her stuff? He couldn't bring himself to get rid of Liz's stuff. He's gonna have a basement full of dead loved ones' belongings.

He sobs harder. He buries his head in the crook of Addison's neck; she's so much shorter than him but it doesn't matter because she's the only one here with him right now. And she'll probably be the only one left if he loses Annabelle.

He doesn't think he'll ever stop crying, but he does. Addison's looking at him worriedly. She pulls her jacket sleeves over her hands and wipes his cheeks. "Um, what'd I miss?"

Zed sniffs. He just comes out and says it. "Annabelle has cancer."

Addison pulls him into another embrace, but he feels completely cried out. The embrace is still welcomed.

"Zed," she says softly. "I-I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what else to say."

Neither does Zed. He brings himself from his spiral. He needs to stop thinking about what could happen. Annabelle won't die, she can't. Zed couldn't live without Annabelle, so logically she _can't _die.

What's gonna come first, though? He has to take this all one step at a time. He's going to have to tell Annabelle that she has cancer. He's going to have to tell his baby girl that she's got cancer, the same disease that killed her mother. It doesn't matter that they're two different types of cancer. Annabelle is seven, she won't know the difference. She's just a little kid.

Addison pulls back and looks at him, her eyes scanning his face. It's quiet between them as she thinks hard, then she says, "What can I do to help? You or Annabelle or anything. Whatever you need Zed."

He feels an overwhelming amount of emotions coursing through him at her words. She has no reason to be there, to be so supportive or considerate. She should be at work. And instead, she was there with him, offering her support. He might just cry again.

"You should be at work," he blurts out, unable to express anything he's feeling toward her.

Addison furrows her brows. "No, Zed. I-I won't—_can't_. For one, I haven't slept all night. And I already called in sick, so you're stuck with me for today and tomorrow."

Zed throws his arms around her again, folding her into a tight hug. It feels so much better having someone to lean on, someone to support him while his daughter has cancer and _fuck_ Addison is so amazing.

"Thank you," he mumbles into her shoulder. In response, Addison just rubs his back.

* * *

All Annabelle knows about cancer is that it's the reason why she doesn't have a mom. It's why she doesn't celebrate Mother's Day, why the other kids gave her weird looks in kindergarten because she didn't make hand paintings in May or cards or anything. She's known about cancer long before kindergarten though, because in all her favorite books and television shows and movies, the characters have moms and dads and all she's got is Zed.

So when Zed has to wake her up and tell her that they're moving her to a nicer room because she's gonna stay at the hospital longer because she has cancer, Annabelle cries. She doesn't even latch onto him, like he would have thought she would. She looks at him like he's betrayed her and it breaks his heart completely. She's so scared and he can't do anything to help her; she won't even hug him.

Then Addison comes in and explains what leukemia is to Annabelle, which slowly puts her at ease. "I know it's scary, Annabelle, but the doctor says that they can make you all better," she tells her. "It's not the same cancer your mommy had."

Annabelle is still crying, but sniffs hard and looks at Addison with watery eyes. "S'not?"

"No," Addison says as Zed sits down beside Annabelle. He's vaguely interested in hearing how Addison explains what leukemia is (mostly because he has a loose understanding of it) but more concerned with Annabelle and her reaction, hoping that she'll latch onto him. He can't shake the look of betrayal she gave him, can't believe she actually doesn't like him because of the horrible diagnosis of cancer.

Addison sits down too and starts explaining. "You see, your mommy had a tumor, which is like a lump of sick cells, she had that in her head. You don't have a tumor though."

"I don't?"

"No, you have a different cancer," Addison explains. "It's called leukemia."

Annabelle wipes her eyes and asks, "There are different kinds of cancer?"

Addison nods and smiles. Zed's never seen her actually teaching before and it's beautiful to watch really. And she's putting Annabelle at ease, which he couldn't do, and Annabelle actually moves closer to him.

"Yeah. There's all different kinds. It can be anywhere in your body, and it can come from different kinds of cells. It can be small or really big. The bigger it is, though, the more dangerous."

"Is it small?" Annabelle asks.

"That's the thing about leukemia," Addison says, "it's not a tumor. But it is a bunch of bad cells. Leukemia is in your blood."

Annabelle's eyes widen in panic and she goes rigid. That wasn't the thing to say in the slightest, judging by how terrified it makes her. Zed wraps his arms around her and she loosens up a little.

"Your blood has two kinds of cells in it," Addison explains. "There are red blood cells and white blood cells. Red blood cells are like lunch ladies—they brings important stuff like air and food to your body. White blood cells are like your daddy—they protect you and help you when you get sick."

Annabelle leans back against Zed and mutters, "Daddy brings me 'mportant stuff."

"He does, doesn't he?" Addison laughs a little. "Leukemia is when your body starts making too many white blood cells. But instead of making you feel better, they don't do anything. They just sit there and take up space and make it hard for the red blood cells and the good white blood cells to do their job."

"But…but how do they fix it?"

"Well, they give you this medicine that's gonna kill the bad cells," Addison explains slowly, "but it doesn't know which ones are bad. It kills all the cells that are made too fast, which means that it'll kill other cells like good white blood cells. That's why you're gonna stay here, so you can't get sick. They're gonna take you to a nice room upstairs and you and your daddy are gonna stay here until you're all better."

Annabelle sniffs and looks up at Zed. "We are?" she asks.

"Yeah Belle," Zed says, holding her tightly. "I won't leave your side until you're all better."

"I'm gonna get better?" Annabelle asks slowly.

Zed nods, even though there's no absolute certainty. He can't tell Annabelle that, not yet. Annabelle looks back at Addison and asks, "Are you gonna stay too?"

"I'll come over as much as I can," Addison says, "and I'll be here today and tomorrow. But I have to go back to teaching on Wednesday."

Annabelle sniffs and detangles herself from Zed, wiping her cheeks. "Okay," she says in a shaky voice. She crawls across the bed, wraps her arms around Addison and hugs her tight.

Annabelle lets go of Addison and moved back to Zed's side. She looks up at him and asks, "Where's Thumper?"

"You left him in the car," Zed tells her. "When we move rooms, me and Addison will go get him."

Annabelle smiles and moved into his lap. "Will the doctor take the needle out of my hand too?" she asks.

"You need it for now Belle," he tells her. "Maybe soon they'll take it out."

"I don't like the needle," she says.

"But it doesn't hurt," Zed points out.

Annabelle frowns and looks down because he's caught her in a loop. "I mean, I guess not," she mumbles. "But I still don't like it."

Zed can't help but let out a chuckle. He really loves her so much, she's so silly. He can't think about losing her right now. He just had to keep reminding himself that it's highly curable.

—_Addison_—

Annabelle has a giant stuffed bunny named Thumper, like from _Bambi_. According to Zed, it's the little girl's lifeline. It's the same bunny that Zed had won for Liz at a carnival many many years ago, which had become Annabelle's. According to Zed, Annabelle can't sleep without Thumper. Addison doesn't believe that because Annabelle has been in and out of consciousness all night and the bunny had been in Addison's car the entire time. Whatever, it's not her place to tell Zed how to parent.

Annabelle gets moved up to a nice room on the pediatric oncology floor. Zed changed her into a hospital gown and socks and she fell asleep right after. The oncologist was meeting with them at ten which gives them a few hours to…sleep. They take a nap on the couch in Annabelle's room because it's been a hell of a night.

And when Addison wakes up, she's snuggled into Zed's side. He's got his arms around her and her head is on his chest and it's so soft and domestic and perfect. The scariest part is that it doesn't freak her out in the slightest; it just feels so right to be in his arms. Which is crazy because she shouldn't be thinking about being romantically involved with Zed because his daughter has cancer.

Addison looks over and Annabelle is sitting up with her toys on her bed. She's whispering to herself and it's pretty cute. Annabelle has a mix of Barbie dolls and Bratz dolls, superheroes that Addison can't distinguish from where she is (snuggling with Zed).

Then Annabelle slips out of the bed like it's practice. Addison can't see her because she's on the other side of the bed, but Annabelle climbs back on after a few seconds. And then there's a toy monster truck with two Barbies strapped on top, going full speed at the couch, crashing into Zed's ankles.

Zed startles awake and tightens his grip on Addison protectively. At least she's pretty sure it's protective. He groans and looks around blearily. "What the…Annabelle, why's your truck crashing into me?"

Annabelle giggles from the bed. "I wanna play," she says as an explanation.

"But…what?"

Addison can figure out that Zed is still half asleep. She ducks under his arm (even though she doesn't really want to) and goes over to Annabelle. "I'll play with you," she offers.

Annabelle beams and Addison sits down across from her. The game is very complex and not at all what Addison would have thought it would be. Veterinarian Barbie and the dogs have become carjackers with the Bratz dolls and stole Movie Star Barbie and President Barbie's monster truck, which they got for their respective Ken dolls. So the Superhero Bratz and Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel and Ironman have to save the day.

Oh and Thumper is the evil super bunny that Veterinarian Barbie trained as their monster. He breathes fire.

Annabelle was super energetic for the first ten minutes, but as more time passes she gets a lot more sluggish and tired, until she's stopped moving around and is just voicing her dolls. Addison takes over the moving around to keep Annabelle entertained. It's exhausting really, but she'd rather do that than watch Annabelle lose steam because of her leukemia.

"Ms. Davis, can we finish later?" Annabelle asks. "I…I wanna take a nap."

Addison smiles softly. "I'll move your toys for you," she offers. She gets up and starts moving Annabelle's dolls onto the chair beside her bed. Annabelle watches her until her bed is cleared, then asks, "Can…can you tuck me in?"

"Uh, sure," Addison says.

Annabelle crawls under her blanket and pulls her bunny under too. Addison pulls the blanket over her, up to her shoulders, then tucks in the sides. "Thank you," Annabelle says with a sleepy smile.

"Do you want me to put on a movie while you fall asleep?"

Annabelle nods and says, "But put it really low so I can fall asleep. And on Disney Junior."

Addison giggles and does as she was asked. She looks back at Annabelle, who gives Addison a smile, then Addison turns her attention to Zed, who's giving her a sleepy smile. He motions for her to join him on the couch, which she does, and he wraps his arm around her and pulls her into his side. It's nice, really. And then he's pressing a kiss to her temple and she tenses a little because since when was he kissing her face? She was not aware they were at that level.

"Thank you for entertaining Belle," he whispers in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

It's hard to find her voice but she manages to squeak out, "No problem."

"You can change the channel you know," Zed says. "She's not watching anyway."

"Are you kidding? _Pinkalicious_ is my favorite show." Addison jokes, making Zed chuckle.

"My personal favorite is _PJ Masks_ but that's not on yet," he says.

"That's a good one," she says. "Now ssh. Good show."

They lounge in the room and watch television for another hour before Annabelle's Nurse comes in and tells them that the oncologist, Dr. Pratt, is heading toward a little office at the end of the hall and for Zed to go there.

Zed stands up and turns to Addison, his face clearly saying he was going to ask her a favor. Probably to keep an eye on Annabelle.

Instead he asks, "Do you wanna come with me?"

Addison raises her eyebrow in surprise. "Really?"

His eyes fall to the ground and he rubs the back of his neck. "I, Uh, I can't do this alone. And you've been here and you've been great and I just thought…"

He's so nervous and cute Addison can't help but smile. She stands up and loops her arm in his. He breaks out into a smile and they head out of the room, leaving Annabelle in the care of the nurse as they head to the oncologist's office.

Dr. Pratt is lovely. Like every staff member they've encountered, she mistakes Addison for Annabelle's mom. Figures, considering Addison came in with her arm looped in Zed's (who was obviously Annabelle's Dad) and she's the only woman there for Annabelle. Then Addison and Zed have to explain that Addison is just the neighbor and also Annabelle's teacher.

She outlines Annabelle's treatments. She's gonna get steroids for a week, then they'll start giving her chemotherapy until the cancerous white blood cells are all gone. The chemo should take about a month, which is when they move onto the next treatment, which Dr. Pratt suggests be a bone marrow transplant. If they don't do that, they'd just continue with chemo, which would keep up for a few years. Zed agrees with Dr. Pratt on the idea of a transplant, which means all they'd have to do is find a donor.

"If we find a donor now, we wouldn't have to wait very long when it comes time for the transplant," Dr. Platt explains. "Does Annabelle have any siblings?"

"Nope."

Dr. Platt takes note of that. "Siblings are an obvious go to in this case because we need to match tissue," she explains. "You'll be tested?"

"Yeah," Zed says.

"And her mom?"

"She's dead."

Dr. Platt is surprised for a second but regains her professional composure quickly. "Okay," she says as she writes. She looks at Zed and says, "I would recommend calling anyone else in her family to find out if they could be a match. The more options we have the better."

"Is it exclusive to her family?" Addison asks.

"No of course not," Dr. Platt answers. "Would you like to be tested too?"

Addison nods with a smile and Zed looks at her, surprised but happy. He mouths a 'thank you' to her.

Dr. Pratt finishes writing, then looks up at them and smiles. "That's it for now, but if you have any questions feel free to call me whenever," she says, handing Zed a business card. "I'm on call Monday to Friday from eight am to ten pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from seven am until ten pm, but someone will answer that phone all hours of the day. Anything comes up, give me a ring. You can also call the nurses in on the emergency button on Annabelle's remote, but if her vitals do start failing staff will be immediately alerted."

Zed nods and stands up, Addison and Dr. Pratt following his lead. Everyone shakes hands, then Zed and Addison leave and head back to Annabelle's room.

And they're holding hands. In the twelve hours they've been in the hospital, they've become incredibly…flirty, and romantic. Addison doesn't mind it in the slightest, but she would have appreciated a heads up.

"I have to tell my dad," he mutters. "I have to tell Olivia and Jake. _Fuck_."

Addison can't help but flinch. Zed doesn't curse. He uses the most creative alternative because he doesn't want to get into the habit and accidentally let a curse slip in front of Annabelle. Hearing him curse is surprising and aggressive and very concerning.

"Um, who are Olivia and Jake?"

"Belle's grandparents," Zed states. He huffs and Addison glances at him, catching him roll his eyes.

"What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing they're lovely people," Zed says. He stops walking and Addison moves around until she's standing in front of him. He looks unnaturally angry and Addison has no idea why or where this onset of anger came from.

"I'm just—this isn't fair," he says, frustrated. "She doesn't deserve this! She just turned seven! She's got her whole life ahead of her!"

"And she's gonna live it," Addison assures him.

"Don't lie to me Addison."

"I'm not lying to you," she says. "It's highly curable. They know how they're going to treat her. It's not like they're winging it and hoping for the best. Dr. Pratt knows what she's doing."

Zed looks away from her and Addison sighs. She puts her hands on his cheeks and gently turns his face to look at her. "Zed," she says softly, "listen to me. You have to put faith in this. I don't know what's going to happen, you don't know what's going to happen. But you just have to have faith that Annabelle will be okay. You just need a little faith, Zed."

Zed lets out a bitter snort, brushing her hands off his face. Then, bitter and angry, he says, "The last time I put my faith in something, my fiancée died."

Addison doesn't know what to say, and Zed just looks at her before walking away. Addison watches as he disappears down the hall, the distinct sound of the sealed doors to the ward being opened and closed.

For the first time since she was fourteen years old, she prays. She prays that Zed isn't leaving and that he'll come back, for Annabelle's health, for everything. She's just praying for some help.

* * *

Annabelle sleeps through the whole morning. Addison has to sit alone in the little girl's hospital room; one of the nurse's brings Addison up some lunch but she's not very hungry. She'd texted Zed for a straight hour and nothing. He'd never had his read receipts on and Addison never minded before but now she wishes there were some way to just know what was going through his head, what he needed.

Bucky calls her a little after noon. Addison had forgotten about her cousin, who's stuck on the couch with a bum ankle for a full week at least. She hadn't gone home the night before and now that Bucky was calling, immense guilt surged through her and she answered immediately.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry I haven't called or texted," she rushes out.

"_Bree says you're not at work._"

Addison closes her eyes tightly. She'd forgotten to tell Bree and she'd probably been texting and calling all morning.

"I'm sorry," she says painfully. "I-I picked up Zed and Annabelle last night and she was sick so we went to the hospital."

"_Why didn't you come home? It's not like she's your daughter or anything?_"

"I couldn't just leave them here alone," Addison says. "And it's good I didn't leave because the doctor says she has leukemia."

"_What's that? It sounds like some cancer or something._"

"It is cancer," Addison says. Annabelle shifts in bed and Addison freezes and waits for Annabelle to settle back into sleep before continuing, this time whispering. "Annabelle has cancer and her mom had cancer and Zed is having an emotional breakdown. Being here isn't a choice it's something I have to do."

"_You aren't her mom_."

"I'm the closest thing she's got to a mom," Addison snaps.

"_Addison,_" Bucky says in a condescendingly gentle tone that makes her blood boil.

She rolls her eyes. "I'll call you later," she tells him. "Let Bree know for me?"

And then she hangs up. She tosses her phone to sit on the other side of the couch, leans back, and sighs, closing her eyes. She can't bother with Bucky today. She's got no energy to deal with him, stay positive for Annabelle, and be a shoulder for Zed. The last two, she can do if she were to maybe eat a little something. But Bucky was just pushing it at this point.

The room is silent and Addison is about to go for a quick nap, when Annabelle's soft voice says, "I wish you could be my mommy."

Addison freezes, thinking she must not have heard right.

"I've never had a mommy, I think you'd be a good one," Annabelle continues. "Daddy really likes you. You can get married and you can be my mommy."

Addison gets up and slides up to Annabelle, sitting beside her. Her eyes are heavy and she's clearly tired, but she's awake and talking.

"Daddy always talks about you," Annabelle says. "He was telling Grandpa and Auntie Zoe all about you, and he's always smiling and so happy. You make Daddy really happy, Ms. Davis."

A soft smile falls on her face. She can't help but stroke Annabelle's hair affectionately, lovingly. "Your daddy is a very nice man," she says, "but right now we're both really worried about you."

Annabelle sits up and leans into Addison's hand. "I don't want Daddy to be alone when I die," she mumbles. "Auntie Zoe says he was really sad and I don't want him to be sad. I want him to be happy."

Addison thinks she might cry. "Belle you won't die," she says, trying to reassure the seven year-old.

"My mommy died."

"But…but it's not the same," Addison says. "Your mommy was really sick. You came in very early and they have a plan on how they're gonna help you."

Annabelle lifts her head and gives Addison a hopeful look. "They do?"

Addison smiled. "Yeah Belle. They're gonna start giving you some medicine today so that you can be ready for treatment. It's like pre-medicine." Annabelle starts to smile, so Addison continues. "Then next week they're gonna give you this thing called chemo. It's just medicine that will get rid of all the bad cells. And when all the bad cells are gone, they're gonna give you new bone marrow, so your body can make good cells."

Annabelle smiles brighter than the sun. She's perking up too and throws her arms around Addison, hugging her tightly. She pulls back suddenly and looks up at Addison. "When I get better, you have to promise me that you'll actually be with my daddy."

Addison laughs. "What?"

"Daddy loves you!" Annabelle exclaims happily. "You obviously love Daddy. Boom, match!"

Addison laughs again. "Okay fine," she says. "Only after you're completely healed."

Annabelle cheers and her excitement is so contagious that Addison laughs, which is how Zed finds them a moment later. He gives them a confused look but what really catches Addison's attention are his puffy and red eyes and his tear stained cheeks. She gets off of Annabelle's bed and pushes the tray of food in front of her. "Eat lunch Belle, we'll be right back," she says.

Annabelle nods, completely unaware of her dad's state. "Kay!"

Addison crosses the room and nods for Zed to follow her, which he does. They leave the room and she closes the door, then goes a short ways down the hall so Annabelle can't hear them if they get too loud.

"Hey," she says softly. "Where'd you go?"

"Maternity."

"What?"

Zed sniffs and nods. "After Liz died I spent a lot of time with the newborns in the NICU and the ones who weren't in the NICU," he explains. "It…it helps me calm down, I guess. I dunno."

"Isn't maternity closed off?"

Zed shrugs. "I asked nicely. The nurse made me stand with him though."

Addison nods, then gives him an expectant look. Zed looks away from her face, shoves his hands in his pockets, and sighs. "Sorry that I…snapped on you," he says quietly. "It's been a rough day."

"I'm not mad that you snapped at me," she states. "I'm not mad at all. I just want to make sure you're okay, Zed. I mean, I know you're not. But that's okay."

He looks back at her and raises an eyebrow. Addison sighs, running a hand through her hair.

"What I'm trying to say is," she says, "things right now are not okay. But right now, Annabelle needs you. And I know you're having an awful time because this all hurts so much, but you can't just storm off like that."

"I know," he says, ashamed. "Thank you for being there with Annabelle."

Addison nods. She won't tell him the promise she made to Annabelle; part of her worries that Annabelle won't live long enough to see the fruition of her plan.

—_Zed_—

Addison goes to work on Wednesday, which is the same day that his dad shows up. Nurse Kara had just finished giving Annabelle medicine, which meant that Annabelle was now eating lunch. Zed had texted his dad their room number and it had taken him a full ten minutes to get up there.

Annabelle sees him first and gasps, pushing her tray away and scampering off her bed. Zed jumps up and grabs her before she can go flying off the bed and possibly dislodge her IV. When he looks up he sees his dad walking in with a grin.

Zed grins and lets Annabelle go after her grandfather. "Pops!" she shrieks in excitement.

She struggles to pull on her IV poll and Zevon rushes toward her, wrapping her up in his arms. "How's my little Zapoula doing?" he asks, lifting her up.

Annabelle giggles. "I'm good! I missed you!"

"I saw you a few days ago Princess," he says with a laugh.

"New York is _so_ much better than here."

Zed rolls his eyes and goes over to his dad and daughter. Zevon smiles at his son. "Is it?" Zevon asks.

"Considering that this is a _free_ hospital, I'd say Seabrook beats New York," Zed answers, making his dad laugh.

"That's true?"

"Yeah," Zed says. "Thank god."

Zevon chuckles and walks Annabelle back to her bed, setting her down. He turns and gives Zed a hug, then they both go and sit on the couch. It's a little weird seeing his dad on the couch with him. Zed has gotten so used to sitting there with Addison, he couldn't picture anyone else. He misses Addison, wishes she could be there instead of at work.

"Belle, finish eating," Zed tells her.

"Uh huh."

Zed turns and faces his dad. "I thought Zoey was gonna come with you?"

"She'll be here next Saturday," Zevon says. "She could only manage to get those days off during the week of Thanksgiving."

Zed had completely forgotten that Thanksgiving was coming up. He was supposed to make dinner for his family and show them his new house and now…this.

Zevon notices Zed's sudden transition into deep thought and asks, "What's wrong?"

"Thanksgiving," Zed grumbles.

He catches Annabelle's attention and she turns to look at them. "Thanksgiving is at our house! I'm so excited!"

Zed gives her a slightly pained smile. "Yeah Belle, it'll be great."

"Will you even be able to go home for Thanksgiving?" Zevon asks in a whisper so only Zed can hear.

"I don't think so," Zed replies in an equally quiet tone. "They won't even start chemo until Monday. I don't know…"

Zevon places a comforting hand on Zed's shoulder. "You'll figure something out, son," he says, "I know you will."

Zed appreciates the sentiment, but can't figure out how he could ever make any of this better. He can't help but wish Addison was there. She'd spent those first two days as nothing but comfort to Zed and he's already gotten addicted to her presence.

Like an answer to his silent prayer, his phone vibrates and he pulls it out of his back pocket. Addison's texted him and he smiles and opens it.

**Addison [to Zed]: TOMORROW IS VETERAN'S DAY I HAVE THE DAY OFF THANK FUCKING GOD**

Zed lets out an uncontrolled laugh and his dad asks, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, sorry."

**Zed [to Addison]: You sound excited **

**Zed [to Addison]: Is today really that bad? **

"Daddy's probably talking to Ms. Davis," Annabelle says.

Zed looks up and frowns at his daughter, even though she's right. "Your teacher?" Zevon asks.

"Uh huh," Annabelle nods, "She was here but she had to go to work. But she said she'll bring my workbooks so I can still learn like all my friends are."

"Ms. Davis was here?" Zevon asks for clarification.

"She drove us here on Sunday," Zed explains. "And…stayed. For two days. But she only gets ten vacation days and I told her not to waste them now and save them for when she needs them."

"Daddy _loves _her!"

"Annabelle!"

Annabelle just laughs. Zed can feel the embarrassment sinking in; Annabelle says it so casually he's afraid that she might have said the same thing to Addison, which would have been _awful_.

"Zed?" Zevon asks.

"She's Annabelle's teacher," Zed states clearly, "and our neighbor. She may be very pretty and nice, but before anything else she's got a job to do. I respect her job."

Zevon hums and glances at Zed's phone. "She's also been texting you repeatedly."

Zed looks down and sure enough, he's got eight new messages, all from Addison.

**Addison [to Zed]: We've been talking about cancer all day and it's mega depressing **

**Addison [to Zed]: That was incredibly insensitive but please understand how awful it is to explain to a class of seven year olds that one of their classmates is very very sick **

**Addison [to Zed]: And they keep asking all these questions and I can't answer all of them and now I'm realizing that I should complain to someone else**

**Addison [to Zed]: I'm so sorry **

**Addison [to Zed]: I just hope you're not mad at me or anything I didn't mean to come off as rude or uncaring or anything **

**Addison [to Zed]: I mean to be fair I haven't slept properly in days and I'm running on three cups of coffee and a stale bagel and today just really sucks **

**Addison [to Zed]: I mean I'm not trying to make excuses or anything but please just don't hate me now **

**Addison [to Zed]: sorry **

**Zed [to Addison]: I was talking to my dad I'm not mad or anything just got a little busy**

**Zed [to Addison]: Trust me, I know how tired you are considering we've been sleeping on the same couch for days. But at least the day's almost over **

**Addison [to Zed]: Three more hours! **

**Addison [to Zed]: You should also hang out with your dad I'll stop bothering you**

**Zed [to Addison]: Okay see you later!**

Zed looks up at his dad and puts his phone to the side. Zevon chuckles and Zed frowns, confused. "What's so funny?" Zed asks.

"You definitely love Annabelle's teacher."

"Dad," Zed groans, "we're just friends."

"Sure," Zevon says, like he doesn't even believe it himself.

Zed sighs; there's no way that he could keep arguing with his dad about this. He's just going to change the subject, once Annabelle starts falling asleep in a few minutes like she always does.

Sure enough, Annabelle finishes her lunch and starts to get sleepy. She talks with her grandfather for ten minutes before falling asleep. Zed mutes the television and smiles at his dad.

"Wanna talk business?" Zed asks.

"You told me that I should get tested but…for what?"

"To see if you're a tissue match," Zed explains. "It has to be exact. But I-I doubt you'd match. I didn't even match."

"Well it doesn't hurt to try."

Zed nods in agreement. "Was her teacher?" Zevon asks. "A match, I mean."

"Close, but no she wasn't."

Zevon gives him a sympathetic look. "Someone will be."

Zed hums. "We're gonna cut her hair on Saturday," he says, "She doesn't know yet and it's gonna be awful."

"Why do you have to cut her hair?"

"The chemo is gonna make her hair fall out," Zed explains, "and Dr. Pratt and Addison say it'd be easier on Belle if we were to cut it off. Could you imagine watching your hair fall out?" And then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, Zed adds, "Well, you don't have hair…"

Zevon rolls his eyes and Zed laughs. Zevon frowns though and, like he knows what Zed is about to ask, he says, "So Dr. Pratt is Belle's doctor. And he—"

"She."

"_She's _qualified to give you advice about Annabelle. But Annabelle's teacher—"

"Is the only friend I have right now and I can't do this by myself, Dad," Zed finishes.

"Is Annabelle right? Do you…love her?"

"Uh…yes?" Zed sighs and closes his eyes. "It's weird. I'm like, eighty percent sure she knows that I have feelings for her? We went on one date and then had to end things because of circumstances. But…she lets me put my arm around her and cuddle her when we're hanging here. She's great."

"Well I'm happy for you," Zevon says.

"Don't say that yet, we aren't actually dating or anything." Zed shrugs. "Bigger issues anyway. We've been in Seabrook for two months and now this."

"How long will the treatment last?"

"A month at least," Zed says with a hint of sadness. "It'll go into Hanukkah."

"And Thanksgiving."

"Don't remind me."

It's silent for a moment. Then Zevon asks, "So where should I sleep? Seems like this couch is reserved for you and your neighbor."

"You can sleep at my house," Zed says. "I can ask Addison to drive you there tonight or something."

"What about when Liv and Jake get here tomorrow?"

"Dad, this really hasn't been my biggest priority," Zed says. "Cancer. Did you forget?"

"Nope, didn't forget," Zevon says. "What do you even do around here?"

Zed snorts. "Watch hours of Disney Junior. It's miserable."

"Don't you have a job?"

"Addison is bringing my laptop when she gets off work."

"She comes up a lot in conversation."

Zed shrugs. "She's likely my best friend now. I only talk to her and Eliza."

Zevon hums and doesn't say anything in response. Zed turns his attention to the television and puts the volume on.

* * *

Zed is a hundred percent in love with Addison. He had a good time hanging with his dad, but when Addison shows up in cute leggings and a sweatshirt, with his laptop bag over on shoulder and her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, his heart throbs in his chest and he had to physically restrain himself from kissing her. Instead he wraps her up in his arms. Addison squeals a little when he lifts her off the ground and he can't help but laugh a little because she's so adorable.

He puts her down and smiles. "Hi," he says, breathless.

Addison giggles and says, "Hello. You seem excited to see me."

"It's so boring here," Zed complains. "I mean, my dad was here. But he's so boring."

"I can hear you," Zevon states behind Zed. Zed rolls his eyes and Addison giggles, then looks around him and waves.

"Hi Mr. Necrodopolus," she greets.

Zed turns and sees his dad smiling. He gets up and walks over. "It's nice to meet you, Addison Davis," he says. "Annabelle talks a lot about you."

Addison grins. "Just Annabelle?" she asks, giving Zed a knowing look.

Zed chuckled nervously and blushes. Zevon just laughs and holds out his hand for Addison. "Of course you're all Zed talks about too," Zevon adds, shaking her hand.

"I mean, I am pretty great," Addison says with a laugh.

Zevon laughs and they pull their arms back. "Is Annabelle awake?" Addison asks.

"No," Zed says. "She's been knocked out since lunch, though I'm sure she'll wake up soon."

Addison nods, then slides his bag off her shoulder and hands it to him. "I also grabbed you some clothes and toiletries because you're starting to stink."

Zed gapes at her, which Addison ignores as she shoves a backpack into his hands. "You really need to shave," she adds. "I mean, the gruff look is cute, but it's very unruly."

Zed sticks his tongue out at her and Addison does the same back. She moves around Zed and his father, heading to the couch. Zevon looks at his son with an amused look, which Zed gives an eye roll.

"Dad, why don't you get acquainted with Addison while I freshen up?"

Zed goes into the bathroom, not really giving them much of a choice. He leaves his laptop bag outside and closes the door. The backpack goes in the sink and he opens it, finding a change of clothes, a towel, his razor and shaving cream and other toiletries from his bedroom. Just the thought that Addison was in his bedroom was enough to make him blush.

There's soap in the bathroom (and a towel but he uses his own) and he showers quickly, getting changed and shaving. There's no comb so he uses a towel to dry his hair and leaves it looking a mess. He shoves everything that's dry into the backpack and leaves the bathroom.

Addison is on the couch with his dad and she's talking too quietly for him to hear, but before he can get closer to figure out what they're talking about, Annabelle's monster truck crashes into his ankle.

"Belle!"

Annabelle laughs from her bed. Zed puts on his fakest disapproving look. He cross the room and gives her a stern finger. "I thought you were sleeping," he states. "How did you get this controller?"

"Miss Addy gave it to me," Annabelle says with a giggle.

Zed looks at Addison who is trying to hold in her laughter, just like his dad is. "Did she?" he asks.

"Uh huh!"

Zed straightens up and moves around the bed. "Then I guess," he starts. His dad knows what's coming and slyly moves from the couch. "Someone's gonna have to deal with the tickle monster!"

Addison's eyes widen but Zed's already got his hands on her side and starts tickling her. "No!" she manages to gasp out just before he jumps on her to get a better angle. She starts squirming and laughing uncontrollably.

"Zed stop! Please!" she cries between laughs.

"What's the magic word?"

"Please!" she wheezes.

Annabelle's laughing from the bed and shouts, "Wrong!"

Zed laughs and ups the ante. He starts running his hands up and down her sides, all the way up to her armpits and back down, going around her middle.

"Oh my god I'm sorry!" she wheezed between laughs.

"Promise you won't do it again?"

"Yes!"

Zed laughes and let up. Addison is breathless and flustered and Zed can't stop smiling. He gets up off of her and she sits up. "Oh my god," she breathes, "That was awful. I hated that."

"I warned you," Zevon chuckles.

Addison just wheezes in response. Zed sits down next to her and wraps his arm around her shoulder. "Sorry, sorry," he apologizes. "You did have it coming though."

"Uh huh," she gasps. "Oh god. I can't breathe."

She leans into his side though, turning her face into his sweatshirt. "You smell nice though," she mumbles, and he smiles.

—_Addison—_

On Thursday, Bree and Bonzo and Matthew visit Annabelle. Friday Addison goes to work and comes back with lots of plastic bags because Saturday is hair cutting day and they're going to measure Annabelle's hair and try to donate as much as possible.

Haircut day was the worst day so far. Annabelle sits in a chair from the lounge and Addison and Zed stand behind her. Addison cuts her hair, sectioning it off so she can cut it as short as possible to minimize what they'd have to shave. Zed helps as best as he can but just refuses to look at Annabelle's face throughout the process. When they had told her they had to cut her hair she cried and he couldn't go through it again.

Zed's friend Eliza is there and talks with Annabelle while Addison cuts. Addison and Eliza had met once before, when Eliza went over to Zed's for dinner and Addison crossed the street because she didn't feel like getting dressed to go buy some milk for her coffee. Eliza seems cool but they'd only met once and now just isn't the right time to start up a friendship.

After Addison bags all the hair, she pulls out the razor and Annabelle loses it. She starts crying and squirming and Zed has to hold her in place so Addison can shave her head. He's got his head tucked into her neck and Addison can hear him mumbling to her. She focuses on shaving and finishes ten minutes later. She brushes off Annabelle and tells her she's finished.

Zed moves to Annabelle's front and wraps his arms around her. She falls into his arms and cries.

Chemotherapy starts on Monday. It's not as awful as when Addison had to shave Annabelle's head. They use her IV to give her medicine and it's terrible. She spends the next few days nauseas and refuses to eat anything. Everything they do get her to eat she throws up. She sleeps all day and is restless all night. Every time Addison visits, Annabelle and Zed look worse than the day before.

Addison has met all of Annabelle's family briefly. Her grandparents are there during the day until around three, while she's at work. Zed's dad and sister are there until around five. They all stay at Zed's house so she sees them when she's at home at night time. They're all lovely people who all care deeply about Annabelle.

On the Saturday after chemo starts, Addison and Eliza are grabbing lunch down in the cafeteria to bring back up to Zed. Eliza's talking about all the changes the leukemia is going to bring into Annabelle's life, things Addison has never heard Zed talk about. Holidays, specifically.

"I mean, Thanksgiving is next week," Eliza says. "And Hanukkah is right after that. Zed was dead set on making them amazing so Annabelle didn't absolutely hate it here."

"We can still make them amazing," Addison says, making Eliza snort. "I'm being serious. I'm sure we could get Annabelle out of the hospital for a few days and have a real Thanksgiving."

"She _just _started chemo, Blondie."

"Thanksgiving is only one day," Addison says. "She gets chemo on Wednesday morning, recovers throughout the day Wednesday. Goes home Thursday afternoon, dinner, comes back on Friday."

"But who would even cook!" Eliza points out. "It's not like you could get Zevon or Zoey or Liv or Jake to cook. They're all going through a very tough time right now."

"My cousin," Addison blurts. "We live across the street. And my friends Bree and Bonzo. We could all pitch in to make it special for Annabelle. And we could decorate her room here for Hanukkah too."

Eliza looks at Addison, surprised. "Are you being serious?"

Addison nods. "This is definitely something we can do, and surprise Annabelle _and_ Zed with!" Addison composes herself enough to add, "Unless you wanna spend Thanksgiving eating hospital food."

Eliza slowly smirks. "I like you Addison. You're a good person." Addison smiles at the compliment.

Dr. Pratt is on board with the idea as long as Annabelle is back on Friday before noon. Addison and Eliza plan first with Bucky, who agrees to get the food and do most of the work. He complains the whole time but he agrees, so it's a win. When the holiday draws closer, Eliza shares the plan with Annabelle's family, who all agree to pitch in here and there.

On the Tuesday of the week of Thanksgiving, Addison shares the plan with Zed. Annabelle is awake and listening, though she's still pale and tired from the chemo the day before.

"Me and Eliza were planning on making you guys Thanksgiving Dinner," Addison says, "Dr. Pratt says Annabelle can go home and all you'd have to do is show up on Thursday. Everything is already taken care of."

Zed looks unconvinced and Addison just looks at him, silently pushing the idea onto him until he's sighing and asking Annabelle, "What do you think? Sounds like a good time?" He already knows that Annabelle is going to agree because she's been dying to get out of the hospital for however long she could.

Annabelle nods in agreement and gives them both a tired smile. "It sounds fun," she says, "but I don't have anything nice to wear."

"I told you that you won't have to worry about a thing," Addison reminds her. "You just focus on getting better. I'll focus on making this Thanksgiving amazing. And Hanukkah."

Zed turns and gives her a surprised look. "Hanukkah too?"

"Yes, but we'll talk about that in a week," Addison says in excitement.

Zed's mouth twitches in the slightest smile. "Okay then."

Two days later, Addison shows up at the hospital dressed in a skirt, a nice sweater, leggings and boots, carrying a bag filled with Zed and Annabelle's clothes. The nurse takes out Annabelle's IV and Zed gives her a bath, then gets her dressed. He looks incredibly sad when he finishes tying her dress but doesn't say anything.

Addison cleans up a little around the room until Zed emerges, wearing dress pants and a nice shirt. He gives a small smile and pulls on his sweater.

"You guys ready?" Zed asks.

Addison nods. She helps Annabelle down from the bed and holds the little girl's hand, leading the way to the desk. They still have to sign temporary release papers; Dr. Pratt reminds them to be back by noon the next day and then they head to the parking garage. Annabelle sits in the middle seat and Zed gets in the passenger seat, and Addison starts on the drive back to his house.

Annabelle falls asleep almost immediately and Zed makes sure she's really sleeping before he starts talking. "That dress used to fit her perfectly," he mumbles.

"What?"

"Her dress," he says a little louder. "It's so loose on her now. It's barely been two weeks. She's getting so small already. I hate seeing her like this."

Addison didn't really know what to say. Zed keeps talking though. "I mean, what you're doing is great. I'm really happy about it. But I just wish we could have a normal Thanksgiving."

"Well, you can have a normal Thanksgiving next year," Addison assures him, "and me and Bucky will show up to it too. It'll be great."

"You really think she'll live?" Zed asks, genuinely concerned.

Addison nods, completely sure. "I do," she says, "Dr. Pratt's gonna give a status report tomorrow and I'll be alright. Annabelle's getting better."

"How do you stay so positive?"

Addison shrugs, not having an actual answer. What she does know is that she has to stay positive for the sake of both Annabelle _and_ Zed.

She ends up saying, "One of us has to," which sounds a lot harsher than she means, so she gives him a smile to soften it up. "You focus on worrying, I'll focus on being positive. I _was _a cheerleader. Way back in the day."

"No way."

Addison glances at him and nods. "Yes way. I was captain for two years." she says. "I was cheering from…seven until I graduated college."

Zed laughs a little and asks, "Do you still keep up with your workout regimen?"

"Rude, but partially. I'm a teacher, sue me!"

Zed laughs and Addison smiles at the sound. "I just meant that you're still really fit," he says, "I mean, not cheerleader fit. But it's been like, five years or something. You're crazy in shape."

"Please, you don't have to flatter me," Addison brushes off.

"I'm being serious," he says, "you just don't see it because it's hard to give yourself compliments. You're always your worst critic. But trust me, you've got a killer bod."

Addison smiles and blushes. She's lucky she doesn't have to look at him otherwise she'd be much much worse. "Thank you," she mutters. "You're also pretty toned."

"I went to college on a football scholarship."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not," he chuckles. "I was kind of a big deal back in the day. Now I work in an office."

"That was so depressing."

Zed chuckles bitterly. "That's my life. One depressing disaster after the other."

Addison glances at him, seeing him shaking his head. "Your life isn't a depressing disaster," she says. "You found the love of your life and had a beautiful daughter. You moved to your first hometown and you're still best friends with your elementary school friends."

"Addison."

"I'm just saying for you to look on the more positive side of things," she says. "It's Thanksgiving. Think about what you should be thankful for, not all the ways that things went way worse than they should have."

Zed sighs and doesn't respond. When she can, she spares him a glance and sees that he's pouting and staring out the window. She sighs, knowing that she may have sounded a bit harsh and insensitive. His fiancée died and his daughter had cancer. She shouldn't be forcing him to be positive. He's allowed to have a bad few weeks. He's been through so much already.

She pulls into his slightly packed driveway and they both climb out. Zed wakes up Annabelle and carries her up to the house. His sister has the house keys so Zed has to knock and wait until said sister opens the door with a huge grin.

"I thought you got lost!" Zoey exclaims. She waves them in and Zed chuckles, leading the way inside. She hugs Zed and Addison.

"Hey Zoey," Zed says, putting a smile on his face. He looks around his house and nods. "This place is actually clean. I'm impressed."

"It was clean when I got here," Zoey shrugs off. "Come on, everyone is in the dining room."

Zoey leads the way to the dining room, which is what Addison assumes is just a converted home office. She guesses this because she came to Zed's house a few weeks ago and this was a home office and now it has a dining table in it.

His family is sitting around the table and they go around and greet everyone. Addison gets pointed to the kitchen, where Eliza and Bucky are finishing up dinner. She goes and helps them finish cooking and brings the food to the table. The meal goes well, with light conversations that all in all make Addison feel like she's apart of a big family, _Zed's_ family.

After dinner, they migrate to the family room and Zed turns on the television, putting on a hockey game from several nights ago. He left the television on low volume so they could all talk though, and Annabelle could watch.

Zed and Annabelle snag a seat on the end of the sofa, far away from the kitchen chair that Addison is sitting in, and it hurts a little. The two of them haven't actually talked since the car. He had casually avoided speaking to her during dinner and just ignored any questions people had asked about her, which hurt. And Addison wouldn't get an opportunity to speak to him alone until as early as the morning. The more time that passes, the more she plays their conversation in her head and over-analyzes everything she said to him. She had definitely hurt him, definitely overstepped. And now he was so upset with her that he didn't want to talk with her.

"You're thinking too loud," Bucky whispers in her ear, making her jump in surprise. He had been in the kitchen with Eliza and Zoey moments ago, cleaning up from dinner. He moves to stand in her line of sight and raises an eyebrow, to which she just gives a little pout.

"Leave me alone," she whispers. "I'm fine."

"I never said you weren't."

Addison glares, knowing she's backed herself into a corner. Bucky nods toward the hall and she gets up, knowing that the easiest way is for her to just do what he's asking. They slip away from the party and head down the hall, stopping in front of Zed's room door.

"What's wrong? And don't say nothing is wrong 'cause you've had your worried face on all night."

"Have not!"

Bucky nods. "Oh yes you have," he says, "and it keeps getting worse too. Now tell your cousin what's bothering you? Is it the little girl? I mean, she's with her family, she's safe. She _does_ look pretty bad but I wouldn't beat myself up over it."

"Bucky, it's not about Annabelle," she interrupts, though she does appreciate him trying.

"Please don't tell me you're hung up on her dad still."

Addison sighs, letting him know that he's right, however just partially. "I-I said some really harsh things to him on the drive and it hurt him I just know it! And now he won't talk to me. But he's also having such a great time with his family and I can't ruin that. How often is this gonna happen for him?"

She looks up at Bucky hopelessly. "I hate this," she complains.

Bucky gives her a sympathetic smile and wraps his arms around her. Addison rests her head on his chest, appreciating his comfort.

"At least he's having fun with his family," Bucky says. "You gave him a Happy Thanksgiving. Doesn't matter what you said to him, this was all possible because of you. Big picture, Addison."

She doesn't see it the same way, but hums to get him to stop talking. She stands there, letting Bucky hold her, silently wishing that it was Zed holding her instead. Bucky lifts his head from on top of hers and says, "Hey Zed, hey little girl." Addison tenses but doesn't move, not wanting to look at Zed and see the sadness in his eyes.

"Hello Mr. Bucky sir," Annabelle says, her voice clearly tired.

"What are you guys doing?" Zed asks.

"I am being the best cousin ever, that's what I'm doing," Bucky says, without actually explaining himself. "What're you doing?"

"Bath," Annabelle says, "pjs, then bed."

"Yep," Zed agrees, "Someone is very tired."

"And once she's asleep we can bust out the—the adult juice."

Addison's head snaps up and she glares at Bucky for even implying they'd get drunk tonight. But Zed laughs and so does Bucky. She looks at him and his laugh softens into a smile. He looks at Addison and his smile wavers, but remains.

They look at each other for a few awkward seconds, then Zed turns his attention back to Bucky and says, "Good luck with that. I don't have any alcohol in here."

Bucky scoffs. "You and Addison are so lame. Lucky I have a stash across the street."

Bucky pulls his arms from Addison and slips past Zed and Annabelle, heading for the door. Zed just looks at Addison, nods, then turns into the bathroom. Addison sighs and heads back to the family room.

* * *

Friday, Zed uses his car to take Annabelle back to the hospital. Addison stays home to take care of hung over Bucky, and grading schoolwork. It doesn't matter because Zed doesn't ask about her. She goes out on Saturday and buys decorations for Hanukkah. That night, she goes to the hospital with Eliza to decorate Annabelle's room. She's asleep and Zed is dozing off on the couch.

He sits up when they walk in and rubs his eyes tiredly. "What're you guys doing here?" Zed asks.

"Setting up for Hanukkah," Eliza says, obviously.

"Is that tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Eliza says.

Zed groans and gets up. "I completely forgot, I'm not ready for it," he says, growing more stressed as the seconds pass.

"Zed, don't worry about it," Addison says, "that's why you have us."

Zed looks at her and gives her a relieved smile, though he's still clearly stressed, and Addison smiles back. "Please don't tell me this was your idea too," he says, his tone joking.

"It was," Eliza says. She takes the bags from Addison's hands and moves past them, saying as an explanation, "You two can talk if you want but I want to go home and sleep tonight."

Zed glances at her and smiles, then smiles apologetically back at Addison. "I, uh, I've been meaning to talk. To you. Um, since Thursday. Or before. I don't—can we just talk? Outside?"

Addison nods, not quite sure why he's so nervous but leading them out into the hall. The door clicks closed and they both say, "I'm sorry."

Addison looks at him in confusion and he gives her an equally confused look. "Wait, why are you sorry?" she asks.

"I was unfairly mean to you on Thanksgiving," he explains. "All I've been doing lately in mope about my miserable life."

"That's exactly why _I'm _sorry," she says, "for trying to tell you how to feel, even though I have no idea what you're going through."

"That doesn't give me an excuse to be an asshole."

"You weren't being an asshole though," she says, "_I _was. You have every right to mope and complain, Zed."

"But you made a good point, I _do_ have things to be thankful for," he says. "Like you."

Addison's mouth opens in surprise. She can't think of anything to say, and she doesn't have to, because Zed keeps talking.

"You're the only thing keeping me from losing my mind," he says, looking more sincere than ever. "After Annabelle, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't know what I'd do without you—no, I _do_ know. I'd be miserable, unstable, I wouldn't be able to function. You keep me sane Addison, and I'm just really, really thankful that you're in my life. And Annabelle's. 'Cause she loves you too."

Addison wants to kiss him. It hurts to not kiss him. She has no words that could possibly explain every thought and feeling coursing through her but maybe, just maybe, she could convey them through a kiss. She knows she can't, can't remember exactly why but just knows that there's a reason they're not together.

Instead, she cries. A small amount of tears fall from her eyes and she throws herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest. His arms wrap around her and this feels a million times better than when she had been in the same position with Bucky. She's missed Zed, even though it's been barely three days. She's missed his warmth and his smell and everything about him and just wants him to be with her everyday. She wants Annabelle to recover, and she wants her stupid contract to vanish so she can be with Zed and Annabelle and be apart of his family and spend every holiday with him and Annabelle and Zoey and Zevon and Olivia and Jake and everyone. And she _knows_ Zed wants it too.

And what hurts the most is that they both know they can't have it.

—_Zed_—

In the first two weeks, Annabelle hadn't been responding well to treatments. Dr. Pratt has said the chemo was killing the cancer cells, but they were dividing faster than they were being killed and the numbers barely went down. So they upped the ante. More drugs, worse symptoms, more days watching his baby girl get torn apart from the inside out. She was losing weight and had basically no energy left in her. It got so bad that Zoey took Annabelle's toys back to the house because Annabelle hadn't touched them in more than a week.

No one matches with Annabelle. The only person who had come close was Addison, but not close enough. Lots of people have been getting tested in hopes of being a match but to no avail. Everything gets worse when a representative from the Make-a-Wish Foundation gets in contact with him. Annabelle is going to die, and they want to give her as many happy memories as possible before then. But what about him? What about his happy memories?

In late December, Zed gets an email from the school explaining that they're going to stop attempting to teach Annabelle. They're giving up hope on her too. The email is basically saying they don't want to waste time on a dying kid when there are so many other kids they have to focus on. It only makes Annabelle's pending death more painful.

He sees it the same day that Carol Hernandez from Make-a-Wish comes to explain the process to Annabelle. Carol and Addison arrive at the same time, but Zed pulls Addison outside to show her the email on his phone and let Carol and Dr. Pratt talk to Annabelle for a bit. He watches as Addison's eyes scannover the words, until she winces. "Yeah, we had a meeting about that today," she says in a low voice. "I-I got fired."

Zed gapes at her. She has to be joking. But she's not, and keeps talking. "They told me to stop wasting my time. I basically told them to suck my dick. They did not appreciate that. Insubordination, neglect of duty, noncompliance with school law. It was bullshit."

She shrugs though. "Don't worry about me," she says. "I don't pay bills or rent or anything."

"But…but…how are you not upset?"

"Because I spent the last hour telling the school board to go fuck themselves and then crying in my car after all the adrenaline wore off."

Zed's brows scrunch together. Addison shrugs and brushes this all off like it's normal and okay. Like it's perfectly fine to get fired.

Addison looks up at him and says, "This isn't a fight that I care about. They said things, I said things, I said some more things. I was getting angry and said some really bad things. The point is that they had cause to fire me, so they did. I'm over it, anyway."

"That doesn't make it right," he says. "What did you even say to them?"

"They have transcripts of our meetings," she explains. "But basically, they told me to stop spending all my time here and focus on my actual students. I said Annabelle is my student. They said she's not anymore. I said they can't kick her out because of medical reasons. They told me they could. I told them that it wasn't fair. They told me that life isn't fair. Then I told them that they could stop me from coming here and making sure Annabelle learns something everyday because despite their stupid rules, she's still my student. They said I can't do that because that's neglecting my duty. I said that I wasn't an asshole like them and actually cared about my kids' education, and I wouldn't give up on one just because they did."

Addison shrugs. "Um, they told me that I was teetering very close to a write up. I gave them my middle finger—" Zed winces and she nods in agreement. "I also said a few things—I didn't curse, but I basically did."

"I'm sorry," he apologizes.

"You don't need to be," she says.

She lets her head fall down and sighs. Zed tilts his head and furrows his brows in confusion, but before he can ask her anything, she looks up at him through her lashes and he loses his breath. She looks so innocent and beautiful; his heart hurts like it always does when he's talking to her or she's looking at him like that.

"Would it be alright if I stayed here? With you and Annabelle? Until she gets better?" Addison asks.

Zed opens his mouth but finds it suddenly dry. He closes his mouth and swallows, then nods. Addison smiles and lifts her head. "Thank you," she says. "I-I can't go home. I'd have to tell Bucky and—"

Zed licks his lips, then says, "I understand," his voice hoarse. His palms are sweating, which is weird. He never gets this nervous, this doesn't make any sense. But he wipes them on his pants and hopes to ignore it. He puts his arm around her and gives her a cool smile. "Annabelle's gonna make her wish, we should get in there."

* * *

"I wish…to go to…the Zombies game this weekend," Annabelle declares, "with my daddy and Miss Addy, of course."

Carol grins at Annabelle and glances at Zed. "Are you a Zombies fan, Annabelle?" Carol asks in a sweet voice.

Annabelle smiles and nods. "My mommy played hockey and me and Daddy would watch really old games when I was a baby. But then we start to watch Zombies and now we live in Manchester!"

Zed furrows his eyebrows. "Belle, we live in Seabrook," he corrects.

Addison nods, still tucked into Zed's side. "Manchester is forty-five minutes away."

Annabelle just looks at them. She turns her attention to Carol and Dr. Pratt and stage whispers, "That's grown-up talk for really really far."

Carol and Dr. Pratt both giggle and Zed rolls his eyes in response. "So now what happens after I make a wish?" Annabelle asks, bouncing a little in her bed.

"Well I have to take your wish to your fairy godmother," Carol explains. "And she'll make all the magic happen."

Annabelle beams and cheers. Zed smiles, leaning into Addison. He hasn't seen Annabelle this excited since they first got to the hospital. She may have been pretty enthusiastic for Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, but this was a different kind of excited. His little girl is genuinely happy and excited. The fact that she wished for something that could happen made him feel even better. He knew most kids would have wished for Disney, which would have been a lot harder to accomplish.

When it's time for Carol to head back to her office, Zed slips away from his daughter and neighbor and follows her into the hallway, to which she asks, "Is there something you need Mr. Necrodopolus?"

"I wanted to ask you something," he says. "Like, if you could possibly also get her to meet the team? She's a huge hockey fan—her mom was on the women's team and we both really loved the Zombies which turned to Annabelle loving the Zombies and I'm sure it'd mean a lot to her if she got to meet them. Even just for a second!"

Carol smiles, knowing and soft. "I'll see what her fairy godmother can do," she says, "but I am a personal friend of the owner."

Zed breaks out into a relieved smile. "Thank you so much," he says, "I-Thank you."

She lets out a soft laugh and nods. "Of course. I'll be in contact with you about the Wish."

Zed smiles and thanks her again. He goes back inside, finding Addison and Annabelle cuddling on Annabelle's bed. Annabelle is dozing off, but trying her best to keep up a conversation about hockey with Addison, who's listening intently, with one arm wrapped around Annabelle and the other massaging Annabelle's hat (a gift from Bonzo) against her head. Neither of them have noticed him so he takes it as an opportunity to capture the sweet moment in a picture.

Annabelle falls asleep a few minutes later, and Addison lets her rest, moving to the couch. Zed was already sitting there so she snuggles up against him. She looks at his laptop screen and groans. "Are you working?"

"I gotta pay for the bills," he explains, "there are people in my house and my cousin doesn't just own everything."

Addison hums. "I don't think I ever see you working."

"You usually come when I finish for the day," he says, shrugging. "Plus, I've been busy with the Wish."

"Well now you're gonna be busy entertaining me all day."

"You're not gonna get another job?"

Addison shakes her head. "I mean one, everyone's on break right now, so it's not like I could. Not for a few weeks, at least. And I bet I'm gonna be getting emails or calls from Seabrook High about being fired and such. I dunno, I'm only qualified to teach, so I don't know what I would do."

Zed hums in acknowledgment. "I gotta get work done so stay quiet please," he requests. "Just until five, then I'm all yours."

Addison agrees and sits, snuggled against him as he works. She doesn't say anything but watches quietly, intently, until the clock hits five and he closes his laptop.

"So when's the next hockey game? What team do you guys root for? What do I need to know before I go to this game?"

"Woah, slow down Teach," Zed says. "What exactly do you know about hockey?"

Addison smiled sheepishly. "It's played on ice?"

Zed laughs. She's so adorable, he just wants to kiss her. Not even on the lips, just show her some affection. Maybe a kiss on the nose, or the cheek, of her forehead. And he does; he plants an affectionate kiss on her nose, making her giggling.

"I'll buy you a jersey for the game. Maybe we'll get to go to Wednesday's game," Zed says.

"Isn't that like, the day before Christmas?"

"Christmas is Monday," he says. "Why do I know this and you don't?"

"Because I've been teaching unruly first graders for several weeks and am mentally and physically exhausted," Addison complains. "And now I'm unemployed." She sighs and Zed gives her a sympathetic look, rubbing her shoulder.

"At least now you can spend all day everyday with me and Belle," he offers.

Addison smiles sadly, and nods in agreement. "I've missed seeing Annabelle everyday," she says. "This will be nice."

'_Like we're a family_,' he thinks.

"Zed."

Zed glances at her and asks, "Yes?"

"Why do you have so many rings on your fingers?"

Zed looks at his hands. He pulls the ring off his left pinkie and shows it to her. "My initials are inside," he tells her. "It was a graduation gift from my dad."

She looks at the engraving on the inside, nods, then passes it back to him. He slides his ring back on, then pulls the ring off the ring finger of his right hand. "This one was Liz's engagement ring. I had it resized a few months after she passed. And got her initials engraved on the inside."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Zed shrugs, "I thought it would be a nice homage to her. Plus, you know, I could give it to Annabelle when she's older. Or whoever wants to marry her. I dunno. I'll figure it out later."

Addison nods, looking over the ring before handing it back to Zed. He puts it back on, then hands her the last ring—on his middle finger, just next to the old engagement ring. "This one, my friend Eric got me because we won four consecutive football championships, not bragging or anything."

Addison snorts. "Oh, what a football star."

Zed grins. "Yes, me and my teammates all have matching rings. It's nice."

"It is," she passes his ring back to him, "I like them."

"Thank you," he says. "Do you have any interesting jewelry?"

She thinks, nods, and pulls a necklace out from inside her shirt. It's sparkling silver and displays her nickname, 'Addy,' on it. "My last girlfriend got it for me," she explains, "as a parting gift. She wanted to travel the world and create beautiful art and I wanted to teach. We didn't want to hold each other back, but she got this for me as a sort of 'don't forget about me' gift."

Zed nods, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. At first, he had thought he hadn't heard her right, but then she kept using the female pronouns.

Like she reads his mind, she adds, "I'm pansexual, by the way. Date anyone as long as they're a good person who reciprocates affection."

"Oh."

Addison looks at him worriedly. "Does that bother you? Are you…I don't know the word for it."

"No! No, I'm not," Zed says quickly, doing his best to cast all doubt and worry out of her mind. "I have nothing against you or your sexuality. I'm an ally, trust me."

"An ally?"

He nods. "I've been setting Eliza up for years, we talk about girls together, we go to rallies and parades together. Liz was bi, I've chilled with some of her ex-girlfriends who were still friends with her because the guys were nasty, really, but the girls were cool. Just—nothing against the queer community."

Addison's lips twitch in a slight smile. "You're so cute," she says.

He blushes, slightly embarrassed. "Um, can you tell me more about your necklace?"

She smiles, nods, and sighs wistfully. "Her name was Ali. We were double As, it was so cute. We went as superheroes for Halloween once, it was fun." She laughs at the memory and a warm smile spreads across Zed's face. This must be how he looks when he talks about Liz: so love stricken and blissful.

"Technically Bucky was the first one to ever call me 'Addy,' but Ali just…it was like her thing." She sighs, then glances at him. "I mean, I like it when you call me that too. You don't have to stop because of this."

"I wasn't planning on it," Zed says.

"Well, to keep it short, we were super in love. Like I said, we had our dreams. She got me this necklace. On the back, it's got her name engraved in the A."

"Did you get her something in return?" Zed asks curiously.

"Just a really nice paint set, to start her off," Addison says. "Nothing fancy."

"That's really sweet," he says.

Addison scoffs and shakes her head. He raises an eyebrow at her, gently probing for answers but is fine without her telling him.

"My family didn't really agree with my relationship with Ali," she explains. "I mean, Bucky was cool because he's Bucky. But, me and Bucky, were the only non-straights and our family is dead-set on perfection. Which means being cis, straight, wearing perfect clothes and having perfect jobs and—ugh. I mean, my parents made me dye my hair brown so it could match my eyebrows, which was insane!"

"That's stupid." Addison nods in agreement. "When did you stop dyeing your hair?"

"I'd dye my hair blonde during college and go back to brown for holidays and I finally let my hair grow out after I graduated."

Zed nods. That explanation makes sense. He had noticed, the first time they'd met, her hair was a little…damaged. It wasn't his place to say anything but he couldn't help but notice the fact.

"Me and Ali…our relationship was one of the problems between me and my parents," she says. "We have a lot of issues, which is why I live with Bucky now. And neither of us really talk to the rest of our family."

"I'm sorry. I could never imagine not talking with my dad or my sister. Or even Annabelle's grandparents."

"It sucks," she complains. "It's just me and Bucky. All the time. No one else."

"It's not just you and Bucky," he says. The words leave his mouth before he can even think them over, but he says, "You have me and Belle, and our family."

Addison lets out a soft gasp. "Really?" she asks hopefully.

"Yeah Addy, you're a part of our family."

Addison looks at him, her mouth open slightly. In a split second, she moves from under his arm to sitting up, leans into him, and kisses him. He lets out a surprised noise, but before he can even think she's pulled back and jumps up off the couch.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," she apologizes. She grabs up her coat and starts putting it on. "I shouldn't have—I'm so sorry. I'll go. I'm sorry."

Zed's legs are moving before his brain can even tell them anything. He gets up and grabs her arm, turning her around to face him. Her face looks so regretful and apologetic, so he does the only thing he can think of: he kisses her, his hands cradling her jaw and his thumbs stroking her cheeks. He pours his soul into the one kiss, giving her every pent up feeling he's had: from love to anger and sorrow and everything with Annabelle but also everything he's felt about her.

Addison's arms work their way around his neck and she kisses him back. She leans into him and even lets out a little moan, causing Zed to come back to reality. They're in the middle of his daughter's hospital room, making out, which is not okay.

He pulls away quickly and gives her a sheepish look. "I-Sorry," he apologizes. "I just—I've been in love with you for so long and this just—I'm sorry."

Addison's eyes are wide in surprise, but she ends up giggling. "Oh yeah? How long have you been in love with me, Zeddy?"

He flushes in embarrassment. He hadn't even realized it had slipped out, and now she was teasing him about it.

"I-Uh-a while?"

She laughs and pulls her arms down, taking a step back. "I know," she says, "you've always got this dopey in love look. It's so obvious. Sometimes it physically hurts to not just…like, kiss you."

"Me too," he agrees, surprised that she and him go through the same pain of physically restraining themselves from giving the other affection.

"And also Annabelle tells me all the time."

"Oh my god," he groans.

She laughs again, then grabs his hand and pulls him back to the couch. "We have to talk about this now—_us_," she says as they both sit down. "I don't even know what we're doing anymore."

"I mean, you aren't Annabelle's teacher," Zed offers.

"But…that date we went on. You said we couldn't date, because you and Annabelle were getting settled." she explains. "Even if you are settled now. Annabelle's got cancer. I can't—I don't think a relationship is what you need right now."

His hopes dwindle for a split second before he says, "I want to test out the waters," he says. "Take things slow. We don't have to go out on frequent dates, 'cause you're right, I do have to focus on Annabelle. But I don't want to lose you, at all. I want to cuddle you, and hold you, and kiss you. And when Annabelle is all better, I wanna take you out for spectacular dates."

Addison doesn't say anything, so he adds, "Unless you don't want to."

"No, that sounds nice," Addison says. "I really like you too. And…we already cuddle and snuggle all the time. Kissing is a nice bonus." She giggles and Zed's not entirely sure why until she explains, "I feel so young. I haven't kissed a guy since…shit, I had to be like fifteen."

Zed giggles too, then presses a soft kiss on her lips. "This is nice," he says. "I've missed this."

She gives him a soft smile, stroking his hair. "You deserve to be happy Zed. I'm just glad I can make you happy."

"I love you," he says decisively. "I've been trying to deny it but—fuck—I love you. I'm sorry."

Addison giggles. "You're sweet," she says. "What are you gonna tell Annabelle?"

"I'm not," he says. "Telling her might end with me having to tell her about everything else that happened today—woah today has been pretty wild. This past hour, at least."

"A good wild though."

"A very good wild," he agrees. "We're not telling Annabelle. Not now at least. Maybe when she's better."

Addison nods and he can't help but smile. It's one of the first times he's sounded so hopeful about her recovery and he truly believed it. His life is starting to turn around and it feels great.

* * *

The next morning, Addison leaves early to go home and grab some clothes so she can spend nights with Zed and Annabelle. She throws in that she might tell her cousin about her work situation, which would mean that she would take a while longer. While she was gone, he was hoping to get some work done before his family came at ten, like they always did. Eliza ruins his plan by showing up a few minutes after Addison leaves. He suspects they had a brief chat in the hall but it's more of a passing thought.

Eliza walks in and turns her head toward Annabelle, her face breaking into a grin as she sees the little girl awake and eating breakfast. Annabelle grins too. She finished chewing, swallows her food, and says happily, "Hi Auntie E."

"Hello Anna Banana," Eliza greets, going over and giving Annabelle a tight hug. "How ya feel today?"

"Hungry," Annabelle says. "But, today's a chemo day. I don't wanna throw up…"

Zed's shoulders slack. Chemo days are the worst, especially because her symptoms don't ever go away. They're never consist either. The only thing that stays the same is her eating habits, which is that she doesn't eat unless she's forced to, and only a little bit. He just wishes there was something he could do to make her feel better. She had to get chemo, but he wonders if they could find some way to not make it so miserable.

Eliza comes and sits next to him. "Morning Zeddy boy," she greets, "I passed by your girlfriend."

Zed rolls his eyes on reflex and says, "We aren't dating." It's become such an automatic response that he doesn't notice at first. When he does, he pulls a face and adds in a whisper so Annabelle can't hear, "At least I don't think so."

Eliza's face morphs from teasing to surprised. Before she asks, Zed nods his head at Annabelle and Eliza nods in understanding. "Write it in notes," she whispers, then puts on a smile and stands going over to Annabelle.

Zed pulls out his phone, opens his notes, and starts typing. It takes the same amount of time it takes Annabelle to eat two more forkfuls of eggs and drink a sip of orange juice before declaring herself full. Eliza passes her her toys and finally sits back next to Zed, taking his phone when he offers.

**We were talking last night and she asked about my rings so I told her and then she showed me this necklace her ex-girlfriend gave her and then she came out to me. I think or I guess (basically she's pan but i guess everyone knew that already). She told me that it was part of the reason why she doesn't talk to her parents and she said she only had Bucky so I told her that she's apart of my family and then she kissed me. **

Eliza gasps and Annabelle looks at her aunt curiously, who just waves her off. "Don't worry about it, Belle," she says.

**We talked after and we decided to date without dating. Not telling Annabelle, not really dating until she is better, but still cuddling and the occasional kisses here and there. **

Eliza looks at him and he nods in confirmation. "That's…that's insane," she whispers.

"I know right!"

"What?" Annabelle asks.

"Nothing, we're talking about work," Zed lies.

She glances at them, then turns her attention back to her toys. Eliza raises an eyebrow at her friend and he shrugs. One little white lie isn't too bad every once in a while.

Eliza pulls out her phone and Zed looks over at her screen, seeing her typing out a message to him. He unlocks his phone just as the message goes through.

**Eliza [to Zed]: So you're an unofficial thing now?**

**Zed [to Eliza]: Yeah I don't want Annabelle or anyone else to know and Addison seemed fine with that**

**Zed [to Eliza]: She's so great **

**Zed [to Eliza]: I told her that I love her**

Eliza makes a surprised noise and furiously types out her next response.

**Eliza [to Zed]: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT WHY WOULD YOU RUIN A GOOD THING**

**Zed [to Eliza]: Relax it's fine Eliza **

**Zed [to Eliza]: She's known the whole time. Belle literally tells her once a day. At least according to Addison **

**Eliza [to Zed]: That's true I've seen it happen Addison gets all flustered and shiiiit**

"Are you guys texting each other?" Annabelle asks.

Zed looks up at her and nods. "Don't worry, we're finished," he says.

—_Addison—_

Carol comes by the next day with tickets to Wednesday's game. Wednesday ends up being perfect for the game. It was the second of two recovery days from chemo. After the first month it got spread out more so she would have two recovery days between each chemo day. She was usually a little sick after chemo and wiped for the first day, but started to get her energy back throughout the second day. Day 2 was the perfect day for a hockey game. The real reason they spread out her chemotherapy was not so she could have more energy more often, but because she was seven and physically couldn't handle so much so often.

On Monday, Zed goes out to get clothes for the game. He comes back with a huge Zombies jersey, his last name on the back and instead of a number a giant Z is in the center. When Addison asks, he and Annabelle explain that Eliza got it for him and Zed is very protective of it. Annabelle is only allowed to wear it twice a season. It's insane but funny all at once.

He bundled his daughter up in some of her cozy winter clothes and wraps her up in the scarf and cap Bonzo had knitted just for her, in the Zombies team colors. Addison asks Zed to drive because "he's from New York and is used to horrible driving conditions." He doesn't believe her, even though she doesn't give him any reason not to believe.

They get to the arena a solid hour before the game. Their seats are right in front of the glass, right behind the Zombies goal for the first and third periods. The close proximity gets Annabelle excited.

"Daddy! Our seats are so close!" Annabelle exclaims. Both Zed and Addison chuckle.

"We sure are Princess!" he agrees, glancing over at Addison who is smiling back at him.

The warm ups aren't long but more than enough to get everyone pumped for the game. All the players using the barrier wall for shooting practice sound loud enough to be gunfire echoing through the entire arena. Annabelle shrieks with excitement as she knows game time is getting closer and closer.

"Mr. Necrodopolus?" a woman asks as she approaches them. Zed quickly stands to address her.

"It's time for opening ceremonies," she informs him with a friendly smile, glancing around him at Annabelle. "Would you like to drop the first puck?" she asks.

Annabelle gasps and looks up at her father for approval. He laughs and nods.

"Yes! Yes! Please!" she squeals. Zed picks her up to follow the lady.

"We'll be right back. Will you be ok?" Zed asks Addison.

"Yeah! Of course! I'll be here when you get back." she assures him. He smiles and leaves to take Annabelle over to the rink entrance.

They roll a red carpet out onto the ice and after the National Anthem is sung, the lady walks out with Zed and Annabelle close behind.

"And now, to drop the opening puck, this brave little girl is fighting childhood cancer. We are honored to introduce, Annabelle Necrodopolus!" the lady announces. The entire place erupts with cheers and Annabelle shyly clings to Zed's leg. He crouches down to her level and gently encourages her forward.

Addison notices the little girl's nervousness and starts screaming louder. "Yay Annabelle! I'm so proud of you!" she screams at the top of her lungs, standing in front of their seats and clapping. She can tell that both Zed and Annabelle have noticed her screams above everyone else's, which makes the impending loss of her voice completely worth it.

With Addison and Zed supporting her, Annabelle seems confident as she steps out of Zed's arms and takes the puck. Zed's smile is face splitting as he watches his little girl drop it between the two players who gently knocked the puck away then turns to shake Annabelle's little hand.

She basically runs back into Zed's awaiting arms and he carries her off the ice.

"You did so well! Enjoy the game!" Ms. Rep Lady—who's name they never actually got—says. Zed shakes her hand and thanks her before returning to their seats. Addison is bouncing with anticipation as they approach. Annabelle wiggles out of Zed's hold and runs the rest of the way, plopping in her seat beside Addison.

"Did you see? Did you see? I dropped the puck!" Annabelle excitedly asks Addison.

"Absolutely! You were amazing!" Addison replies, giving the little girl a big side hug. Zed sits down next to Annabelle, still smiling ear-to-ear.

Annabelle leans forward, ready to watch the game, so Zed takes it as his chance. He leans behind her and whispers to Addison, "Thanks for yelling so loud. I think it really helped her."

Addison waves a hand to brush it off. "I don't care who hears. I am one of her biggest fans, after all." Addison teases. Zed chuckles, fighting the urge to walk over and kiss her.

"GOAL ZOMBIES!" the announcer exclaims.

The crowd explodes with cheering, which didn't exclude Annabelle who was jumping up and down holding onto the ledge of the barrier. Zed scoops her up, bouncing around for her as they continue to cheer. He sits her back down in her seat beside him.

"Save some energy Belle. I don't want you to be too tired." he tells her gently.

"Ok Daddy," she agrees politely. Addison can tell Annabelle was taking his guidance more like a scolding and decides to change the subject.

"Wow, that was fast! Do they always score that quickly in the game?" she asks. Annabelle jumps in her chair to sit on her knees and answers excitedly.

"No! The Zombies are just sooooo good!" Annabelle continues to ramble on about how much she loves this team. Addison could listen to her go on and on about things she was passionate about. It warms her heart every time she did.

Annabelle was sitting between them at first but she quickly decides that their laps were more comfortable as she hops back and forth between the two of them. She tends to stay on Addison's lap just a little bit longer than her father's, mostly because she's explaining the entire game, but even when she wasn't, Addison cuddled the little girl, refusing to let her go.

Zed scoots into the seat Annabelle was obviously not going to return to and put his arm behind Addison's back. Addison looks at him and smiles, leaning into him. If someone were to look, they'd think the three of them were a family. The thought warms Addison inside; this is everything she's ever wanted, really.

* * *

The game continues, the two teams fighting hard for points but nothing else was made the rest of the first period. Once the first intermission hits, Addison stands up and does a food call, taking note of everything they want. "I'll be right back!" she says happily, then climbs the bajillion steps to get to the vendors.

She goes to the back of the concession's line, which is very long considering it was the first break of the game, before she notices the jersey vendor right behind her. There's no line so she turns and starts looking at those instead. How surprised would Zed be if she just showed back up in a jersey? She smirks and picks one up with the number 13 off the table, examining the size.

"Well, hello there." a male voice comes up behind the counter, sounding very familiar even though they clearly didn't know each other, based on Addison's raised brow in his direction.

"Hello?" She responds. "Do I know you?"

The man smirks as he leans flirtatiously towards her against the counter. "Not yet. I'm Jackson Noel." he introduces himself with an offer of a handshake. Addison looks at his hand and then turns her attention back to the jersey in her hands.

"Addison. How much for a jersey?" she asks, ignoring his extended hand. He chuckles and comes closer.

"I think for a pretty girl like you, a date would suffice." Jackson says, giving her a wiggle of his eyebrows suggestively. To his surprise she burst out laughing in response. His smirk drops and she has to contain her laughter before continuing.

"Oh! I'm sorry! You were serious?" she asks, still half laughing. He scowls.

"Two hundred bucks for the jersey," he answers flatly. Addison's mouth drops open.

"_Two_ hundred dollars?!" she asks dramatically. Jackson raises a brow and nodded. She mumbles that he was a crook before pulling out her wallet and handing him her bank card.

After she gets her receipt, she turns back to get in line for food and puts on the jersey. It was a little too big but she just uses an extra hair tie to tighten the corner so she still had a little bit of her figure showing. With a triumphant smile, she waits in line again, knowing Zed would be impressed none the less that she dished out enough cash for an official jersey.

When she walks back to the rink, she sees Zed and Annabelle up on the Jumbotron. Zed's pointing to the Zombie mascot who was coming down their isle. She gasps and smiles so brightly that it could illuminate all of Seabrook. The mascot bends down and hands her one of the t-shirts they would be shooting out of the cannon and then gives her a big hug that she gladly returns.

The other fans all clap and a pretty good number of 'aw's are heard as well. Then he returns to the ice to distribute more shirts to hype up the crowd. Annabelle insists on putting the shirt on and Zed doesn't have any objections, sliding the oversized garment over her head.

Addison returns with a tray of food, with nachos and soft pretzels stacked so she could carry it all, and drinks for all of them. Zed catches sight of her from the corner of his eye and nearly tackles her.

"Oh my god! Where'd you get that jersey?" he exclaims, rushing up to her and grabbing the material to feel the quality and examine the number. Luckily Addison has great balance, or else all the food would've went flying to cover their fellow hockey goers in salt, cheese, and soda.

"Let go! I bought it before I got our food!" she says with a laugh. Zed's eyes are bright with excitement.

"Do you realize who's number you got?" he demands insistently.

"Umm, Blakeley…?" she responds hesitantly, afraid that dude who sold it to her gave her a bad one since she wouldn't go out with him.

"Yeah! Blakeley! _Zeke_ Blakeley! Only the greatest player to hit the entire league in two decades!" he confirms in complete fangirl fashion.

Addison rolls her eyes. "I'm gonna sit because _I'm _hungry."

She hands off the drinks and walks past him to sit down. Zed is close behind and scoops Annabelle into his lap as he sits beside Addison.

"Who's hungry?" the blonde asks with a smile.

"Me!" Zed and Annabelle exclaim in unison. The three of them laugh as Addison hands out food to both of them.

They're still eating as the second period starts. And this one is even more intense than the last. The players keep slamming into one another against the walls to stop the plays. Addison yelps when a big collision hits right in front of them. Zed chuckles under his breath and rubs her back comfortingly.

The hit leads to a scrap started between the two players and Addison leaning into his side from her anxiousness, not being a huge fan of violence. He just wraps his arm over her shoulders and lets her use him for comfort.

The game goes on with a lot of back and forth of possessions. A couple minutes later and, "GOAL ZOMBIES!" the announcer exclaims again. Zed and Addison jump to their feet in excitement, the remaining few nachos in the tray go flying off their laps, Annabelle is hugging Zed around the neck as they cheer for their team.

The scoring player comes skidding to a stop right in front of them and puts his glove up for Annabelle to highfive the glass between them. Annabelle is screeching and laughing with so much energy. Way more energy than Addison's seen her have in weeks. It made her so happy to see her having so much fun.

The other team scores before the end of the second period. Annabelle's obviously starting to get tired as she just rests against Addison and watches as the intermission game is played on the ice. She giggles softly as the man and woman try hurrying across the ice, putting one piece of hockey gear on at a time until they reached the end. The man slips multiple times and the woman ends up winning because she took her time. Zed has his arm around the back of Addison's chair and watches his daughter's face in concern.

"You doing ok Belle?" he asks. Annabelle looks up at him without lifting her head off Addison's shoulder but nods.

"Mhm," she hums, returning her attention to the festivities. Addison looks from the little girl in her arms to the worried father beside her and her face softens.

"She's ok Zed. I got her." she whispers for reassurance. Zed smiles and nods, leaning his side into her shoulder as he sits back in his seat.

—_Zed—_

The last period is nerve racking. The other team scores quickly when they get back in the game. The score was tied. The teams play rougher and rougher against one another as tensions grow. They were all on the edge of their seats. Less than one minute remaining. The Zombies star player gets possession of the puck. He skates past the opponents, maintaining control and heads straight towards the goalie. He shoots high with 5 seconds to go. The buzzer rings.

"GOAL ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES WIN!" the announcer yells, making the crowd go crazy.

Zed jumps up and cheers. He ends up holding both Annabelle and Addison in each arm. The three of them cheer and laugh, having the time of their lives.

From his left, he heard, "I thought that was you." Zed turns and his eyes light up. He knows that face and that smile, that demeanor, that everything.

"_Paizley_?! No way!" he exclaims, nearly dropping his daughter. Instead he quickly hands her off handing to Addison before rushing up to hug the woman in the pantsuit.

Of all the things he missed about Seabrook, Paizley was at the top of his list. His mom and her mom were best friends so they grew up together. She was a little older than him and was basically like his older sister. When he moved they lost touch and it broke his heart. And she was _here_.

"Um, sorry to interrupt." Zed turns to see Addison walking up with Annabelle in her arms. He smiles brightly and steps beside Paizley, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Paizley! This is Addison! And," he pauses to take Annabelle from Addison's arms, "this is my little princess Annabelle!"

Paizley extends a hand towards Addison to shake, which she quickly accepts.

"It's very nice to meet you," Addison says.

"Same to you! You must be, Mom?" she asks in assumption.

Zed jumps in with a nervous laugh. "Uh, no. It's kinda a long story, but Addison is—just a family friend." he corrects.

"Oh." Paizley says with a confused blink before she shakes it off.

"Anyways, Annabelle! I'm Paizley. I was friends with your daddy when he was your age." she introduces herself to the little girl, giving her a handshake to make her feel big. Annabelle lights up.

"Really? Daddy was little like me?" she asks in amazement. Paizley nods.

"But he wasn't nearly as cute as you are," she clarifies, giving Zed a teasing look from the corner of her eye. He pouts in response.

Paizley stands up straight and smiles between the three of them. "So, who wants to go meet the players?" she asks. Both adult's mouths drop open while little Annabelle just squeals in excitement.

"I'm sorry, what?" Zed asks. Paizley laughs and offers to carry his daughter. Annabelle happily obliges.

"I'm the owner and CEO of this hockey franchise. The Zombies are my team. Literally." she explains. Zed stares at her in shock for a few more moments before his brain catches back up with him.

"Holy shit," he mutters.

"That's a dollar for the swear jar!" Annabelle exclaims.

"I mean! Sweet guacamole!" he corrects himself with a face palm, causing all of them to laugh.

"Come on. I'll show you to the locker room." Paizley says, leading them to the hallway under the arena seating. Addison skips up to walk alongside Zed.

"So you're besties with a big wig CEO of a major hockey team?" Addison whispers teasingly with a light laugh. Zed chuckles and nudges her arm with his elbow.

"Shut it," he says, "she was more like a big sister when we were younger. She babysat Zoey and I all the time while our parents worked. I had no idea she was the owner of the Zombies now."

"Well, once Annabelle gets better, I'm sure that you'll be able to bring Annabelle to a lot more games now that you have an in." she adds optimistically. Zed sighs and nods.

He's trying his best to stay positive but it was so hard sometimes. They were there because of Make A Wish. They were going to meet the hockey team of their dreams because of Make of Wish. Addison must have noticed his shift in mood and gently grabs his hand to squeeze it reassuringly. He smiles sadly down at her but the horrible thoughts wouldn't stop running through his head.

His negativity is quickly derailed when he hears Annabelle's excited squeal a few feet ahead of them. "Zeke!"

Zed's head snaps in her direction. The bulky hockey player ahead of them, talking with some other players, turns around at his name being called.

All of their hair is dyed bright green and he's still in his uniform, the number 13 across his chest. Zeke Blakeley, all star. He smiles as they approach, though his enthusiasm was directed mostly at Annabelle.

"Hey! I'm diggin' the gear!" Zeke comments, gesturing towards all of them then taking a few steps closer to pick up the end of Annabelle's scarf. "But these are really cool kiddo!" He says. Annabelle giggles.

"My uncle made them for me!" Annabelle exclaims. Zeke chuckles.

"You must be a big fan!" Zeke adds, encouraging her excitement. She nods enthusiastically.

"Zeke, this is Annabelle. She's our honored guest from Make A Wish this evening." Paizley introduces.

"Yeah I know. I saw her drop the puck." he jokes with the owner.

"Of course," Paizley laughs then turns to allow Zed and Addison to shake his hand. "And this is her father Zed and his 'friend' Addison." She puts air quotes around the word 'friend' that makes Zed roll his eyes.

Zed shakes Zeke's hand enthusiastically. "It's great to meet you! We're huge fans!" Zed blurts.

"It's great to meet you, Man!" Zeke laughs.

"I even have my custom jersey!" Zed exclaims, turning around to show off the Z on his back with 'Necrodopolus' in patches stitched across his shoulders.

"Wow! That's awesome! Almost looks like you bought it that way." Zeke compliments.

Zed lets out an embarrassing high-pitched giggle. Addison leans in and interjects, "It's also my first game. You guys played great, by the way!"

"Thank you. Hope we made a good impression and hooked you into being a fan." he jokes.

Addison tugs the bottom of her fresh new jersey. "I paid full price for this baby! I _think_ I'm a fan." Addison replies, making everyone laugh.

Zed side steps and wraps an arm around her shoulders on instinct. She leaned into him like she always does.

"Full price?" Zeke asks in disbelief. "We'll get you a refund, right boss?" Zeke addresses Paizley.

"Absolutely! And get you two whichever number you want!"Paizley agrees.

Addison smiles excitedly while Annabelle and Zed whoop in unison. The group laughs again at the father and daughter's similarities.

"Ok! Who wants to get a picture with the players?" Zeke asks. Annabelle waves her hands in the air in excitement.

"Me! Me! Me!" she exclaims. Zeke walks up and takes Annabelle in his arms; she hugs him around the neck and Addison snaps a couple of secret pictures on her phone at how cute it was.

Zeke peaks in the locker room first. "Everyone get decent! We've got guests!" They can hear the group of men behind the door laugh collectively before someone yells, "All clear!" and Zeke leads them in.

It's obvious by the smell of sweaty men that it's a post game locker room. It reeks in there, like a high school locker room after the mile day, in like September. Or maybe even after football practice in the summer, when it was hot and wet and gross outside. Addison makes a grossed out noise under his arm and turns her head into his side.

"Everybody gather around!" Zeke says, still holding Annabelle in one arm. His teammates get up from their seats and circle around their captain and the little girl on his hip. "This is our new friend Annabelle. She's our newest honorary Zombie!" he announces. All the players erupt into cheers.

"Ok! Everyone get together with just Annabelle for a picture!" Paizley instructs.

"Ah man!" Zed mumbles beside her.

She laughs. "You can get in the next one," she assures him with an eye roll.

"Sweet!" he exclaims. Addison stretches up on her top toes and leans closer to Zed, still no where close to his ear because of how short she was.

"So, who is everyone?" she asks curiously. Zed leans down subtly beside her while the players get into picture poses.

"Over on the left, 72 is Diaz and 14 is Fritz. They're both up front on offense with Zeke. And on the right, 16 is Chaz and 39 is Denzel. They act as guard closer to the goalie." Zed explains.

"I love how you're on a first name basis," she teases.

"Hush hush!"

Addison giggles. "Ok, go on."

"And the guys crouched down up front; 2 is Alonzo, 11 is Zephyr, and 22 is Zach." He vaguely gestures to the three. "Side note, they're also a part of this awesome cover band called 'Bowling for Zoup'." Addison raises an eyebrow.

"Like 'Bowling for Soup'?" she asks curiously.

Zed sighs happily. "It makes me so happy you know that information." he says.

Addison giggles quietly. "Ok ok. Continue." she says.

"The last player up front, 61 is Zane. The best goalie in the league. I think he's only allowed like 7 points the entire season!" Zed says, clearly excited to be able to talk about his favorite players.

"And him?" she asks pointing to the smaller guy without padding but a number 99 jersey on.

"Oh yeah! That's their waterboy Hazen! He's an honorary Zombie 'cause he's like literally their biggest fan and Zeke's best friend." Zed tells her.

"Ah. I see." she nods. "Hope to be a waterboy someday?"

Zed chuckles, wanting to kiss her nose. Instead he just repeats, "Someday."

Paizley snaps several pictures, then turns to Zed and Addison and announces, "Ok! Now with the rest of the family!"

Alonzo waves them over in the middle front. Zed kneels down with one leg propped up and pats his thigh to offer for Addison to sit. With bright smiles, Paizley snaps the pictures on her phone. "Got them!"

All the players get up and shook Zed's hand, chatting with him shortly before Zeke finally interrupts with Annabelle holding his hand, walking alongside him now.

"Annabelle mentioned wanting to skate on the ice. Would that be ok with you?" Zeke asks.

"Absolutely!" Zed consents enthusiastically. Zeke laughs.

"You guys can come too! We have extra skates if you want to." Zeke says before leading Annabelle back towards the arena.

As they follow, Addison curiously ask, "Does Annabelle even know how to skate?"

"Annabelle's been skating since she could stand on her own two feet," he explains. For good measure, he adds, "Remember her birthday? She insisted we go ice skating while we were in New York."

"Oh right."

Zeke points them to the cubbies of extra skates as he grabs a pair for Annabelle and assists her with getting them on. Zed is quick to get his on while Addison has a lot more trouble.

"Here, let me help you," he insists, crouching down to help her tie the skates.

"Thanks." She blushes in embarrassment. Zed just laughs when he sees the pink on her cheeks.

"Don't be embarrassed," he assures her with a smile. "I'd never expect skating to be a skill for someone who's lived in Seabrook their whole life." He stands up and offers her his hand. "Have you skated before?"

She takes his hand and stands on wobbly legs.

"Once. And I broke my collarbone." She shrugs. Zed stiffens but she pulls him towards the door that Zeke was already helping Annabelle through. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll be fine."

She didn't sound too sure, but Zed was immediately distracted by Annabelle nearly falling when she tried to get on the ice. She was great at ice skating, but he was constantly in worried father mode, and insisted on him and Addison getting on the ice first just in case. Zeke laughs a little but Zed doesn't care. He feels better knowing that if anything were to happen, Annabelle is surrounded on all sides.

Addison grips his hand hard enough that he's afraid that she might break it. He raises an eyebrow at her and asks, "You good?"

"Uh yeah, I'm totally not freaked out at all."

Zed gives her a warm smile. "You're gonna love this," he assures her.

He waits for her nod and her to say, "Okay," before turning back to help Annabelle onto the ice.

Addison uses the wall for support so Zed changes his attention to Annabelle. He goes from skating around with his daughter to racing the pro-athlete with his daughter. Zeke is obviously better, quicker, and more agile. It's not a serious competition but still fun nonetheless.

Annabelle lets go of Zed's hand and skates to a stop. "Get him Daddy! Get him!" she cheers.

Zed lets go of her hand and skates towards the player, only for Zeke to slip away easily and circle him so quickly that Zed loses his balance and falls on his butt. Addison and Annabelle both burst into laughter at his expense and Annabelle skates to his aid.

"It's ok that you're not as good as Zeke, Daddy," Annabelle assures him. Zed huffs as he gets back to his feet.

Zeke skates around him and laughs. "You gotta give your dad some credit, Lil' Annabelle," Zeke says, "he _is_ pretty good."

Zed's eyes go wide and his mouth falls open in absolute shock. He thinks his heart has stopped. He can't feel it beating at all.

_Zeke Blakeley thinks he's a good skater_.

Zeke slowly circles Zed and Annabelle. "Annabelle, you'd better go help your Mommy over there, looks like she can't skate," Zeke says.

"Miss Addy's not my Mommy," Annabelle says casually. She does a little spin and Zed watches, amused. "She's my teacher. And my neighbor. But Daddy _loves _her, so maybe she'll be my mommy someday."

Zed's face hardens on instinct. It's not even surprising anymore that Annabelle says things like this. Zed's sure that if it were possible, Annabelle would tell the whole world.

"Belle, you can't just tell people that," Zed says.

Annabelle stops and tilts her head at him. "Why not? It's true!"

_Because Zeke Blakeley doesn't care_.

"Belle, that's one of the things that we keep to ourselves," Zed explains. "Especially because it's my business and not yours. You wouldn't want me telling everyone about—"

Because they've had conversations like this before, Annabelle knows what he's going to say and shuts him down. "No!" she shouts indignantly. "I'll go help Miss Addy!" She turns and speeds away, trying to get as far away from her father as possible.

"She's really adorable," Zeke says.

Zed nods in agreement and does a few lazy circles with Zeke. They have a brief conversation about Annabelle and her diagnosis and how it sucks, as if Zed doesn't have to have this conversation everyday. Annabelle managed to get Addison to let go of the wall and drags her toward the middle of the ice. Zeke and Zed cheer her on until they get to the middle, when Zed takes over for his daughter.

"Don't worry Addy, I've got you," he assures her.

She looks relieved and holds onto him tightly. They skate around for a good half hour before Zed decides it's time to go. It's been a long and exciting day and he knows that once Annabelle is in the car she'll be out.

He's right, of course. They part ways with Zeke and Zed carries his daughter back to the car. She starts dozing off while he's carrying her but is awake enough to buckle her own seatbelt and grab her bunny from the floor. Once he's got the engine started, he looks back and sees that she's knocked out. He chuckles to himself and Addison looks back to see what he's laughing at.

"Annabelle is the absolute best," she says. "I love her."

Zed smiles at her. "I really hope things get better," he says, "I couldn't imagine my life without Annabelle."

"Me either," Addison agrees. "I mean, I've only known you guys for a few months but like, I can't imagine my life before you. And Annabelle, but mostly you. 'Cause you're really cute. And awesome. And funny and sweet."

Zed chuckles. He leans over and plants a kiss on her nose. "I love you too. Which is what I think you were implying. I am completely okay with you not saying it though. It can be rough, I get it."

Addison smiles a little. "I'll say it, when I'm ready. I promise."

"Addy I don't mind," he says. "I know your feelings for me. You know your feelings for me. They're just words. It's all about how you express those feelings, which I already understand. Take your time, Addison."

Addison giggles and moves back in her seat. "Come on, I know you're tired. _I'm_ tired. And Annabelle should definitely sleep in an actual bed and not the backseat of the car."

Zed chuckles and pulls out of the parking space. It's been a few hours since the game ended so the garage is empty except for a few scarce cars. They pull onto the road and start the half hour trek back to the hospital. There's no music because Annabelle is a sleep and Addison is dozing off. He doesn't want to disturb his girls.

It doesn't go as planned though. He's crossing the intersection, a couple of blocks away from the hospital. There's a jerk, and a terribly loud grinding sound and yelling and—everything goes black.

—_Addison_—

Everything is red and there's screaming and grinding metal. Her head is fuzzy and it's pounding. She had to force her eyes open and there is smoke everywhere and there's crying. One second she was half asleep and the next—she doesn't even know.

She groans and twists behind her airbag. Everything hurts and some warm liquid is making its way down her face. Her eyes are heavy and she decides to close them. '_It'll only be for a minute_,' she assures herself.

She opens her eyes and everything is a million times worse. It's like she's trying to swim through water but can't move and the water is heavier than it should be. She forces her eyes open, all the lights and colors and everything overriding her senses. She shakes her head to try and clear it.

"No, no keep your head still—you have a concussion," the loud voice instructs and Addison frowns. Concussion? How did that happen?

Thinking hurts but she goes back to what she can remember. Hockey game, ice skating, meeting the players. Stolen kisses and family and—"Zed!"

They had been in the car and she was falling asleep and Annabelle was knocked and "Ma'am you've been in a car accident. I need you to calm down."

Car accident? She remembers seeing red and feeling something warm and wet and—fuck something was wrong she was in an ambulance. Her family. Where was Zed and Annabelle?

"Annabelle," she whimpers. The stern EMT beside her pushes her back down on the gurney.

"Miss, I need you to stay calm," he assures her. "Can you tell me who Zed and Annabelle are?"

"Family. My family. Where are they?" Her head pounds with every word but she knows she needs them. They need to be okay. She can't lose them. She _just_ got a family and now they're slipping between her fingertips.

"Were they in the car with—"

"_Yes_! Where are they!" Addison cries.

The ambulance lurches to a stop and the EMT puts his arm in front of Addison to hold her still. The doors fly open and there's more shouting everywhere. It's too bright and too loud and _too much_. Addison squeezes her eyes closed, trying to get rid of all the senses. Her head is pounding so hard and before she knows it, she's blacked out again.

* * *

She wakes up several times but can't remember anything specific. She's up and out again within minutes. It's all a blur of questions and lights and talking. All of it makes her head hurt worse and worse. When she finally does wake up and stays awake for more than ten minutes, she's in her own hospital room. She groans and takes in her surroundings: she's still in her jeans and jersey but her boots are gone.

Her head still hurts and she can't think very clearly. She sits up in bed and finds she's not wired into anything. It seems like a good sign but hospitals are tricky like that. She looks around the room and her eyes fall on two faces she never thought she'd see here: her parents. They look the same, only slightly older.

Her mom notices her consciousness first and rushes up from the couch to her daughter's bedside. Addison can't even think enough to formulate a proper reaction to seeing her parents for the first time in ten years because she's in the hospital. '_Wait, why am I in the hospital?_'

"Oh my god!" Missy cries, holding her arms out to Addison. "Addison, my baby! You're awake!"

"Mom?"

Her dad joins her mother beside the bed. "The hospital called us once you got admitted," he explains, then immediately tells her, "You were in a car crash."

She nods. "Yeah I—I kinda remember. Why are you here?"

Missy looks utterly crushed, which Addison ignores. Car crash, she was in a car crash. But she can't remember driving. Her parents keep talking but she doesn't listen. She focuses on what she can remember.

Her name is Addison Davis. She's twenty-eight. She lives with her cousin Bucky. She's a teacher. Okay, so the basics are down. Wait. She's not a teacher. She got fired, but why?

Annabelle. Cancer. Hockey game.

She tries to jump out of bed, only to be held down by both of her parents. "Woah what do you think you're doing!" Dale asks.

"Where's Annabelle? Where's Zed?" she asks impatiently.

"Who?"

"Zed! He-he was driving! I-I—_Where is he_!" She's panicking and it hurts and she can't stop thinking of the worst. Zed could be seriously hurt or dead and she can't do anything because her stupid parents won't let her up.

"Addison, you need to calm down," Missy says. "Who is Zed? Who's Annabelle?"

_Oh my god Annabelle_. "Let me out of here! I need to find them!"

"Addison—"

"Stop it!" she shouts, "stop saying my name like that! I'm not a baby I can leave the hospital whenever I want! I know my rights and I know you of all people can't keep me here!"

Her parents exchange a look, knowing she's right. "Dale, go get the doctor," Missy instructs her husband. Dale nods and rushes out of the room.

"Now honey, you've been mumbling about Zed and Annabelle since we got here. You don't have to tell me, but who are they?" Missy asks.

"Zed's my neighbor and Annabelle is his daughter and we went to a hockey game today and we got in an accident and I need to know they're okay!"

Missy sighs and looks around helplessly. Addison doesn't understand the look but can't find it in herself to care. She just needs to see Annabelle, to see Zed, to know they're okay.

"Mom," she says in a pleading tone, "I won't even leave the hospital. Just let me find them."

Missy sighs again but pulls her arms back. "Hopefully we won't run into your doctor or Dale," she mumbles.

Addison doesn't care enough to argue with her mother about following her. She swings her legs over the side of the bed and gets up, her head wobbling and spinning at the sudden change. She closes her eyes and groans.

"Oh fuck, why does my head hurt so bad?" she asks herself.

"They think it's a concussion."

"What?" That would explain the pounding and the confusion and everything. She shakes her head, which only makes things feel worse. "No. Annabelle. Zed. Let's go."

She marches to the room door, not caring if her mother is following. She peeks out and makes sure no one is watching before rushing out of the room. She makes a few wrong turns but ends up finding a directory, a map, and an elevator. Once she gets to the oncology floor, she knows where to go to find Annabelle's room. All she hopes is that Annabelle is actually there.

"So I see you're a hockey fan now."

"I'm not in the mood for small talk," Addison states. "If you must follow me, do so quietly. Concussion, remember?"

Missy nods in understanding. The elevator stops and they're on the floor. Addison leads the way down the hall, makes several turns, before stopping in front of Annabelle's door. She says a silent prayer, begging that Annabelle is on the other side of the door and not in some emergency room. She pushes away every bad and awful thought that comes to mind and opens the door, stepping inside.

She sees Eliza first, standing against the wall of the bathroom. She looks to the bed and finds Annabelle sitting up in bed. Her breath catches in her throat, loud enough to catch Annabelle's attention. The little girl's eyes go wide and she scampers off the bed, running to Addison.

"Addy!" Annabelle cries as Addison wraps her in her arms, lifting her up.

"Oh my god," Addison breathes. "Oh my god. Annabelle. You're okay."

She holds Annabelle tightly, afraid that if she didn't, Annabelle would disappear. Before she knows it, she's crying. Annabelle clings to her too, her head tucked away in Addison's shoulder.

Eliza rushes over too, looking relieved and shocked. "Addison! You're—you're…oh my god." Addison looks up and gives Eliza a smile.

"I'm okay," she tells her. "It's just a concussion, I'm fine."

Annabelle sniffs and looks up at Addison. "What's a concussion?"

"It's kinda like a really bad headache," Addison explains. "I'll be okay. What about you, Belle. Are you hurt?"

Annabelle shakes her head. "I have a big cut on my arm, but Thumper got hurt real bad," Annabelle says. "Auntie Zoe took him 'cause he's got blood and glass all over."

Addison frowns in sympathy. She doesn't really have anything to say, but doesn't need to worry because Annabelle asks, "Where's Daddy?"

Annabelle's eyes are drooping, and she looks so genuinely sad that it breaks Addison's heart.

"I don't know," she tells her. "I only just woke up."

"Oh," Annabelle sighs sadly.

"But I'm gonna find out," Addison assures her. "I'll find out what's going on, I promise."

Annabelle holds out her pinkie. "Pinkie promise?"

Addison smiles a little, wrapping her pinkie around Annabelle's. "Have I ever lied to you, Belle?"

Annabelle's eyes well up but she shakes her head, squeezing Addison's pinkie. It was obvious that Annabelle was fighting sleep with everything in her, but Addison managed to convince Annabelle to get changed and get rest. She's not really sure how; her head is still pounding and things are fuzzy everywhere.

She ends up asleep, back in her own room in the emergency section of the hospital. When she wakes, her parents are still there and now Bucky has joined them. He notices her first and directs the attention to her.

"You've been losing consciousness so much I'm starting to think they shouldn't have discharged you," he says.

"What?"

"Concussion, Bartholomew," Missy hisses. "She has bad memory gaps."

Bucky shots a glare at his aunt. "You've been in and out of it for four hours," he says. "They want you out by noon, which is in an hour, so get a move on it."

"Wait…" she pauses and thinks, then asks, "It's eleven in the morning?"

"Yes," Bucky answers.

"Shit," she mutters. She remembers talking to Annabelle a little after two in the morning. That was over ten hours ago now. She hopes Annabelle was still sleeping and not worried about Addison or Zed—

She jumps and tries to race out of bed, exclaiming, "Oh my god where's Zed!"

Bucky holds her down and says, "Relax cuz, I've already checked on him. Well, Eliza did. But she told me."

Addison looks at him expectantly. "He's been out of surgery since five," Bucky explains. "Minor internal bleeding. Two cracked ribs, one broken. He'll be _fine_, which is the same thing I told Annabelle."

"How is she?"

Bucky scoffs and rolls his eyes. "I think the real question is how are _you_?"

"I'm _fine_, how's Annabelle?"

"She's got a few cuts and bruises." Bucky shrugs. "They're pushing her chemo back to tomorrow so she can recover more from the accident."

Addison sighs in relief. She relaxes back against the bed, all her worries slowly going away. Zed is okay. Annabelle is okay. What more could she ask for?

She gets discharged within the hour and makes a beeline to see Zed. She passes his dad and sister, who are on their way to see Annabelle. They both look exhausted but are glad to see Addison. Zevon eyes Addison's parents suspiciously but doesn't say anything, conversing with Addison for a few more moments before excusing himself and Zoey.

Her parents and Bucky don't follow her inside. She doesn't know what they're doing out there and doesn't care. Zed is lying unconscious in the bed. He's wrapped up in a blanket; when she looks around the room, she finds all his belongings neatly folded on the chair beside his bed. She sits in the chair on his other side and looks him over. He's so still and quiet and peaceful. It's not like when he's sleeping, because he's constantly moving and muttering in his sleep and it's the most adorable thing ever. This state is so still and so…not like Zed, it's unsettling.

She pulls the covers back just enough to peer at Zed's bandaged torso. Crisp, white bandages are wound tightly around him, but there's nothing else. There's no sign of any "red" that she vividly remembers seeing in the car, and she's relieved. He was safe, he was alive. Addison subconsciously strokes his cheek, before tucking the blanket back around him.

From behind her, the doctor says, "He will make a full recovery." Addison looks at him. "We'll keep him under observation for a few days and bind his ribs once his stitches are secure enough. He'll have to take it easy for a while, but he should be just fine."

"Thank you," Addison mutters.

"Do you have any questions? Anything else you'd like to know?"

Addison turns back to look at Zed and shakes her head "Alright, well, just call if you need anything." the doctor says, putting Zed's chart away. He leaves a second later and Addison is alone with Zed.

She doesn't know how long she sits there, until Bucky comes into the room. He puts a hand on her shoulder and she slowly looks up at him. "You should head back up, go keep Annabelle company," he tells her. "Right now, you're all she has."

"I…I don't wanna leave him. Alone."

"We both know you'll be back in a few hours anyway."

Addison nods because it's true. She gets up and spares Zed one last look before going with Bucky up to Annabelle's room.

"Where'd my parents go?" Addison asks.

"They kept asking questions," he answers, "so I told them to get lost and stop pretending they cared about you." Addison snorts.

Bucky chuckles and wraps an arm around Addison's shoulders. "I gotchu, Cuz. Those snotty jerks won't ruin your relationships."

—_Zed_—

Zed doesn't remember most of what happened while he was in the hospital. He has flashes and vague images, but nothing solid. Addison is a constant in all of his memories, which makes him happy.

He sleeps through Christmas and Annabelle sleeps through the new year, which isn't very unusual because she's only seven. But Zed gets to spend the holiday with Addison and kisses her at midnight.

It takes a few weeks after the accident for them to get back into their "groove" of treatments and sleeping and doing absolutely nothing. Annabelle's treatments go back on schedule, Addison has a very intense meeting with the school board again, Zed works from the hospital room.

Near the end of January, Dr. Pratt pulls Zed and Addison outside after Annabelle gets her round of chemo.

"I'll just come right out and say it. We've found a match!"

His heart stops, but not the same way it had back in November, when he found out Annabelle had cancer. He doesn't even know how to feel; he'd always hoped for this day but never imagined it actually coming.

Addison shrieks, bringing him back to reality. He can't believe this day has come and he gets to celebrate it with Addison too. She grabs his arm and shakes him, saying something he doesn't even listen to because he keeps replaying Dr. Pratt's words over and over again in his head.

Later, Dr. Pratt tells them that the donor would like to remain anonymous but they'll start prepping Annabelle immediately for the transplant.

* * *

Zed is so excited that his hands are shaking. He can barely sign the discharge papers correctly. Annabelle gets wheeled out for no other reason than policy. But she does a cartwheel once she gets out and Zed couldn't be any happier. Granted, she's not very good at cartwheels, but it's the fact that she tries and she partially succeeds that makes him so happy.

They go out for dinner. The waiter asks if they're celebrating anything, thinking they're having a week late Valentine's Day celebration.

"Freedom!" Annabelle exclaims, making both Zed and Addison.

The waiter looks confused so Zed says, "She got discharged today. After three months."

"Three _long_ months," Annabelle whines.

Zed chuckles and kisses his daughter's head. "Well congratulations," the waiter says. He takes their drink orders and leaves them alone with the menu.

Zed helps his daughter make a selection off of the kids' menu. After, they sit silently. Annabelle is reading the menu so Zed makes funny faces at Addison and she tries not to make too much noise with her laughs.

Annabelle looks up at him and he stops immediately and Addison snorts. "Daddy," Annabelle says. "I know that I'm all better, but I think you and Addison should still be together. Because you'd be real cute. And you guys are so happy together."

Addison had told him about Annabelle's Cupid schemes, which were funny. And it made it even funnier that he was only waiting for a good time to tell her that he would be dating Addison. So he smiles at his daughter and says, "That's a great idea, Belle," then looks up at Addison and asks, "Addison, would you like to go out with me?"

Addison breathes a laugh through her nose, smiling brightly as she nods. "Could we call this a good first date?" she asks.

"I think that'll work," Zed says. He looks back at Annabelle and she's grinning from ear to ear. He kisses her head again, his nose brushing against the light fuzz growing in place of her hair, and thinks about how this day captures everything he's ever wanted: his little girl, smiling and happy and healing, and Addison, his second chance at love.


End file.
